Elephant calls under study

Press, 18 February 1986, Page 36

Elephant calls under study

NZPA-AFP New York

Elephants emit lowfrequency sounds inaudible to the human ear which may be a form of communication, according to Cornell University researchers, the “New York Times” reported in an interview with an American zoologist, Katharine Payne.

While studying elephants at Portland Zoo in Oregon a year ago, she became aware of unusual vibrations in the air. Acoustic tests with sensitive instruments —- repeated in the wild in a game park ip Kenya — showed that the elephants were producing infrasonic sounds .which appeared to come from a membrane

on the forehead at the join with the trunk, Mrs Payne said. Elephant watchers have always been intrigued by the way herds that are a long way apart appear to co-ordinate their movements.

“The use of infrasonic calls may offer an explanation,” Mrs Payne said.

“We hope that learning the meaning of these calls may help save the elephants from extinction,” she said. The World Wildlife Fund vice-president, Mr Thomas Lovejoy, commented: “This discovery is like suddenly finding tribe w%th a hitherto known language.”