Do the types of elephant calls vary between populations?
This is a good question and one for which we will be searching for answers. At this stage we would guess that while there may be differences, at least some calls are “hardwired”: a call recorded in Amboseli from an estrous female elicited an excited response when played back to males in Namibia. It is certainly true, however, that the calling rate for particular vocalizations varies from population to population and even family to family. This is because in different populations different pressures come to bear depending upon the availability of resources and the presence of threats with the result that elephants communicate more or less about particular themes. In the Maasai Mara where salt is in limited supply elephants make more complaining and competitive calls than in Amboseli where salt in not limited. And in families with newborn calves a larger variety and number of calls are heard than in families without young calves.
