Why Do Elephants Hold Tails When They Walk?

Elephants are social creatures, known to communicate and express affection by touching their trunks or swishing tails. Every body part is essential to pass the right message across, especially since they do not speak like humans. 

Given the strong affinity for community and herd-living that elephants enjoy, it is essential to keep every member of the herd connected, particularly for baby elephants who have only just begun to learn how to live in the wild. Is this the reason elephants hold tails when they walk?

Do Elephants Really Hold Each Other’s Tails?

Elephants probably grab tails for the same reasons we hold hands – to help, support, or show affection. Tail holding among elephants is more rampant with calves and young adults. However, older elephants may be seen holding the tails of other elephants on occasion. Some of such instances are when a male elephant tries to slow down another in an attempt to win during play fighting. Elephants play to develop their strength and fighting skills. When escaping a game, young elephants may seize each other’s tails to slow down.

Elephants also hold on to each other’s tails when scared. Quite often, they cross through rivers with strong currents or those containing predators like crocodiles. To safeguard weak elephants, and ensure that every member of the herd comes out safely, tail holding could be done in a single-file arrangement. Usually, the matriarch (head female elephant) takes the lead, while every elephant props the tail of the elephant in its front.

What Is Special About an Elephant’s Tail?

Elephants’ tails serve multi-functional roles for their daily living. From swatting flies to cautioning a playful child or warning the herd of danger, elephant tails are unique!

Elephants’ tails rise in response to fear or excitement. It is quite common for  an elephant to playfully grab the tail of another. Their tails also come in handy as their danger alarm.

Each elephant’s tail is different. In fact, tusks, ears, and elephant tails can all be used to identify specific individuals. There are wild elephants with tails that are unusually long, unusually short, or bitten off by hyenas as calves. 

Elephants are not particularly hairy animals. The strong, coarse, and black tail hairs on their tails, which may grow up to 100 cm (39 inches) long and are perfect for scattering flies, are an exception to this rule. They can also utilize their tails as hands in different ways. They are able to move and grip thanks to this.

Why Do Baby Elephants Hold Their Mother’s Tails?

Calves may grab onto their mothers’ tails with their trunks to keep up as other female elephants guard them. When they feel threatened, infants will cling to their mothers’ tails just like a scared child holds the hand of a parent.

Most importantly, the best way to make sure a young elephant is not left behind in the chaos that is often caused by elephant stampedes is to hold on to a family member’s tail. When a calf is holding on to its mother, a gentle tail tap can be used to communicate between mother and infant. It’s quite practical as huge elephants would find it hard to turn around every time they wanted to check on their offspring. 

What Are Elephants Afraid Of?

Since elephants walk single file and hold each other’s tails to stay safe, seeing this phenomena makes you wonder what they could be afraid of. Common predators of elephants include lions, alligators, and crocodiles. But did you know this giant mammal is actually afraid of a tiny insect? Yes, elephants are very afraid of bees. Just the buzzing sound can cause elephants into a frenzy of ears flapping and feet stomping. While a bee’s stinger can’t penetrate their thick skin, elephants do have sensitive places-such as around the eyes, mouth, behind the ears, and inside the trunk-which are susceptible to painful stings. Baby elephants have thinner skin than adults and can experience excruciating pain from bee stings all over their bodies. Another small but fearsome animal to the elephant is the mouse. The quickness of a mouse most likely startles them through the element of surprise, but they also dislike mice because they nibble their feet.

How Do You Know if an Elephant Is Happy?

Elephants would swish their tails about like happy dogs, trumpet loudly, and sometimes use their trunks to envelope the subject of their excitement.

Elephant reunions are always quite dramatic and joyful. This often happens when a family member who has been away from the herd returns. Usually, the happy elephants would begin to call excitedly to one another through rumbly noises and trumpet sounds. Their faces are a clear indication of their excitement as they will begin to drip temporal gland fluid. When they come together, they create a rumbling, noisy tangle of interwoven trunks, clicking tusks, and fluttering ears. Such reunions create a noisy yet endearing symphony of trumpets, rumbles, screams, and roars.

How Do Elephants Show Affection?

For elephants, love begins at birth. Calves are nurtured and cared for by the mother elephant, as well as other female members of the herd. It is quite common to see older elephants directing smaller ones with their trunk, and ensuring that they keep up with the herd. This affection continues after elephants are grown, especially when a member of the herd falls ill, or dies. 

Elephants are quite expressive, and this is apparent in the noises they make and excited motions. You would typically hear loud trumpeting noises, and excited tail swishing like dogs would. They often extend these shows of affection to humans they have grown accustomed to, or persons they are pleased to see.

Interestingly, elephants grieve the demise of their companions, and members of their herd. They are known to continuously return to spots where a dead elephant lays, long after its death. Mother elephants are also known to mourn their young ones long after they have passed away.

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The photo featured at the top of this post is © Stu Porter/Shutterstock.com