World elephant day 2018
To celebrate World Elephant Day, Conservation Scholar and PhD student from the University of Liverpool Rutendo Wazara shares some of her findings with us on the relationships between the elephants at the zoo.
Rutendo tells us more:
“The strong family bonds of elephants is an attribute that many people resonate with and love about them. In the wild, both Asian and African elephants live in distinct social groups, where female elephants stay together in family groups for the length of their lives.
Family groups are made of mothers, calves, sisters, aunts and grandmothers; and because of this the females develop strong bonds with one another. Elephants are actually one of the few species that learn life skills from watching each other, making having strong bonds with family members important. In these family groups, females help each other care for and protect their calves, learn how to become good mothers, develop good social skills and share food and water resources."