Social relationships of wild juvenile Asian Elephants Elephas maximus in the Udawalawa National Park, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Social relationships of juvenile wild elephants (3-6 years old) in the Udawalawa National Park were studied. Focal animal sampling was employed to quantify behaviour of juveniles encountered on 450 different occasions. Nearest neighbour (NN) and nearest neighbour distance (NND) were considered for proximity analysis and the social relationships of focal animals. Adult females and juveniles were the NN of the study group during 50.8% and 37.6% of the total observed time respectively. The mean NND was 1.62m (SD� plus or minus 2.8), and it was less than 5m 98% of the time while 33% of the time the study group was touching (NND<1m) the NN. There was a significant difference between NND categories (p<0.05). Eighty percent of the NN infants stayed at a touching distance and were cared or allo-mothered by the juveniles under discussion. Time allocated for different behaviour patterns by the study group varied with the NN. When the study animals were accompanied by age-mates, they spent 17% of time in social playing and another 3% in non-play social contacts, but only 1% in each behaviour pattern when the adult females were in close proximity. Maximum social contacts were observed between study animals and infants. The findings suggest that juvenile elephants associate more frequently with adult females and near-age mates while they show social relationships in a varying degree with different associates. Play and social contacts of juveniles with conspecifics, especially with peers, provides opportunity to develop skills and social confidence necessary in adulthood.