ELEPHANT (ELEPHAS AFRICANUS). 69 



Sometimes pass over high ranges of hills in travelling from one locality to 

 another. Generally found in the neighbourhood of some big river or stream, to which 

 they come at night to drink and bathe, and along whose banks they make well 

 trodden pathways. 



Habits. 



Elephant, when not on trek, will after drinking walk in extended order, picking 

 off branches and eating as they go along. 



Short shoots growing out of the ground are gathered up, and, after biting the 

 leaves off, the stalks are deposited right and left of the track in neat little bundles. 



The sap at their base gives the age of the spoor. 



When they come to anything especially interesting, as a tree with berries, they 

 will break it down and gather round. An elephant country is always obvious from the 

 number of trees broken down. We have seen patches of three or four acres of 

 timber without a tree left standing. 



When they come to their grazing ground they frequently stop under trees where 

 there is anything special, and about 10 o'clock or so will generally make their mid-day 

 halt in shade ; when the sun begins to decline they usually choose a different tree to 

 get the afternoon shade, and about 2 or 3 o'clock will move off again. 



Most of the night is spent in eating, and before sunrise they will have drunk and 

 moved off again to their grazing grounds. 



When on trek, either changing localities or when the feeding ground is far from 

 water, they will line up one behind the other, making a beaten track, and seldom stop 

 for anything till they have finished their journey. 



During the rains they move about less than in the dry weather, probably because 

 they have a shorter distance to go for water and food. 



The females, young, and small males up to 20-lb. to 30-lb. tuskers move about 

 together in large herds, while the larger males, in smaller numbers, are usually found 

 separately and sometimes in quite different parts of the country. 



The tusks of females are very much thinner than those of the males, and often 

 slightly flattened. 



It v/ould be unlikely to find a good male in a herd containing female and young. 



Tuskless males are usually found alone and appear to be generally bad tempered, 

 and sometimes on getting wind of, or hearing man, they will bear down on him with a 

 shrill scream and the trunk curled. 



If they miss their objective they will usually go straight ahead without turning. 



In such a case the best thing to do is to move sideways out of his path if there 

 is a tree handy. 



