In the last newsletter we talked about the advantages of age and size for reproductive success in males. A male elephant can have dozens of offspring in his lifetime depending on his longevity and physical and psychological capabilities. In his active periods he will mate with as many females as possible. 

 

A female, on the other hand, will only be able to give birth to 10-12 calves in her lifetime. She will have her first calf at 12-14 years old and then she will give birth every 4-5 years until she is in her 50s. Not all the calves will live and in drought years she may cease reproductive activity completely. Understandably, each calf she produces is precious. After a 22-month gestation period she will suckle that calf for four years and care for it for years to come. 

 

For a male, any female who is receptive to his advances will do. For a female, it is a very different story. Although not a conscious decision a female is looking for the best male to father her calf, one that exhibits robustness, good health and longevity. In almost all cases this will be a male in musth. But how does a female who is at least three feet shorter and weighs several tons less than a big male, have any choice in the matter? She does.

 

Because females are smaller and lighter than males they can outrun them. However, more important, a female has to learn how to operate around males pursuing her. When a young female comes into oestrus for the first time, she may be confused and not know what to do. She will be chased by many males and maybe even mounted and mated by several. This can be dangerous for her. We recorded one young female who broke her ankle in this way. (She recovered and is alive today.) 

A young female being mated for the first time; her mother runs over to reassure and teach her

 

If a young female is lucky and her mother is alive, her mother might try to teach her what to do. We have seen on many occasions the mother enticing males with a "come hither" look over her shoulder. There were times when we recorded her in oestrus rather than her daughter until we realized what was happening. Also when the daughter was caught and mated the mother would rush over and emit the deep, far-reaching oestrus rumbles that would attract other males. In this way, bigger and better males would converge on the young female. Even then the mother might show her how to stay close to a musth male.

 

Eventually, after her first few oestrous periods a female will become experienced at attracting and choosing the right mate. It is fascinating to watch the 40+-year-old females when they come into oestrus. They know exactly what they're doing. They barely get chased. First they show the signs of being in oestrus by walking out in a special way from the group when a male approaches. They might even allow the male to catch and mount her. Afterwards she will emit very loud, pulsating oestrus calls. This will attract males from all around. If one of those males is in musth she will allow him to mate with her and then they will form a consort pair. He will guard her from other males, but she will also follow and stick close to him. They will mate every six hours or so until her oestrus period is over after about two days. 

 

Our data show that 83% of the sample of calves we analyzed were fathered by musth males. The females chose those males.