Martin the Elephant Man answers questions.

A few months ago I had the opportunity to visit with Martin Tyson, a British environmentalist who was here on the Nakai Plateau studying Asian elephants. I didn’t learn Martin’s last name until he was about ready to leave town. Everyone here simply referred to him as “Martin the elephant man.” (An earlier entry in this journal describes a morning that I spent with Martin deep in the forest, trying to locate an elephant that had frightened villagers).

Busy though he was, the elephant man was kind enough to grant me a lengthy interview in which he answered questions submitted by the students in Ms. Susan Thompson’s Grade 6 class at the D.C. Everest Middle School, Weston, Wisconsin.

The interview was conducted in May, 2006.

Interview:

Diane: What is the main reason elephants die each year?

Interesting question. We probably don’t have very good information on why elephants die, because we don’t find a lot of the carcasses. They often die in quite dense jungle. I couldn’t tell you the proportion of annual mortality, although it is likely up be about 50% of elephants that die each year because they are in conflict with people.

People shoot them; people throw bombs at them, and people also drive into them with vehicles. That’s because elephants raid crop fields. There is a sort of low level war in some areas between elephants and people.

Possibly the biggest cause of death is natural death in Laos, where conflict is a relatively small problems at present, and poaching levels may be low. Elephants who have got very old and reached the end of their lives. There are also accidental deaths; that’s quite common in places like India where they have large areas where elephants roam and which has a big railroad system. They get hit by trains. In fact, some of the trains have big rams built on the front which are designed to actually catch elephants and other large mammals so the train doesn’t become derailed.

Jim Harris: Where did the legend of the “elephant graveyard” come from?

That probably derived from people seeing collections of elephant bones, possibly in places like Namibia where you can get big diebacks during droughts because the elephants there are in deserts and can’t get water and can’t get access to food. A whole herd could die.

It’s also happens in East Africa as well. So, perhaps the idea of an elephant graveyard comes around with basically a herd of elephant that’s been denied food and so they all died within a relatively constrained area.

Elephants are very unusual for animals because they actually do appear to have some emotion associated with the death of other elephants. For instance, it’s been quite often observed in Africa that when there is a freshly dead elephant other elephants will come and try to cover the corpse. They will sometimes remain around an elephant that has died, for something up to a week. They tend to put brush and grass or whatever to cover a corpse. Nobody knows why this occurs. Elephants are extremely intelligent so there may be some bond that they recognize.

Jeff: What is the greatest threat to elephants in Laos?

The greatest threat is probably human-elephant conflict. This is when elephants and people try to share the same patch of ground and they both want the same resource. For example, where we are at the moment, here in the Nakai Plateau, is land that was once probably largely uninhabited. An area of very flat ground with rivers running through it. Perfect habitat for elephants. Good soil in places, so it’s a perfect place for people to grow crops as well.

All the river systems and the flood plains used to be places where elephants would thrive. Very good food. They like being near water. They’re also places where people prefer to move; to put their villages, grow crops, and so on. As the human population grows, so grows the number of conflicts between people who want to do agriculture and elephants which need natural vegetation, but may start eating crops.

The human population is quickly removing the best elephant habitat in many countries, and that includes Laos.

Shelby: Why do elephants have long noses? Do they smell things with them, or can they pick things up?

Both. They have a very good sense of smell. Their eyesight is not very good but they can smell at some distance. They are very good at picking up different types of smells. They can actually move their trunk; they can point at the smell. It’s a “directional” nose.

The trunk has about 20,000 muscle groups. It’s a huge muscle. It’s like having an incredibly long nose with an arm muscle all the way down it. An elephant can kill a person with its trunk. Just pick a person up, knock them over, and kill the person. It’s a powerful weapon. They can pick up trees or push them with it. They also drink with it. It’s a fantastic thing to have!

Elephants are adaptable with what they can do with their trunk. They can even paint pictures with it. If you give them a paint brush, as they have in elephant camps in Thailand. There, they’ve got elephants that will paint pictures using their trunk, using it as a hand.

Asian elephants have a single finger-like, fleshy protuberance on the front of the trunk tip (African elephants have two “fingers” on the trunk tip). It’s a bit like a thumb, so they can hold very delicate things with their trunk.

Generally, elephants won’t break things like coconuts using their trunk alone. What they will do is use their very powerful jaws to crush things. But, they will pick up something like a coconut or a durian fruit, which they really like, and use their trunk to bang it against something hard like a tree or a rock.

Tyler: Do the Asian elephants have a larger population in captivity or in the wild?

We don’t know how many wild Asian elephants there are. It’s almost certain that there are more wild Asian elephants than there are captive. I think there are maybe 10,000 domestic, tamed elephant. There is a very large population of working elephant in India. Something like 3000 in Myanmar, working in the forests. There are about 1000 in total in Thailand. About 400 in Indonesia and a similar number in Sri Lanka. There are smaller numbers of domesticated elephant in other range states. But we would expect that, even with the India numbers included, the wild ones outnumber the domesticated. But, we don’t know the true numbers.

Nicole: What elephant ages are the most common to attack people?

Generally adults. When elephants move around they often move in groups. The group generally is controlled by an adult female who is the matriarch and group leader The group would consist of one or more adult females with their offspring – sub adult and juvenile females and males,.

The matriarch, the big dominant female, makes decisions about where the herd goes. Also, it’s her responsibility to defend the herd. If you encounter a group she will take the role of defending the group and charge, attacking somebody who is a threat.

Sometimes males will wander around in groups of males consisting of both adults and “adolescents” – males not as young as those that you would find in the matriarchal group. Adult male elephants can be dangerous too. Of all the wild elephants they would attack most commonly. During their mating phase (“musth”) they become very aggressive. Even domesticated elephants must be tied up during the few weeks when they are most aggressive because they want to go out and mate.

Lauren: What would cause an elephant to become mean and dangerous?

Elephants are individuals and some individuals, perhaps through illness or disease, are bad tempered. Like people. There are some bad people; there are some bad elephants. Quite often, elephants that have escaped from domestication and become wild become so called “rogue” elephants because they have lost their fear of humans to some degree. They can be aggressive toward their former captors.

You might see something like a big male which has had one of its tusks removed, but it has escaped, broken its chains while its tusks were being sawed off, which is a very painful process if done incorrectly! Elephant keepers take the tusks off to try and reduce the incidence of injury. In fact, you remove the elephant’s most natural weapon, but also its tools. If an elephant escapes during that process it can be very dangerous indeed!

Dakota: Do you think elephants will go extinct if nothing else is done?

Yes, they will. Because elephants need large areas to live in, if we do nothing and continue to allow humans to dominate what used to be elephant habitat, slowly but surely, over time elephants will go extinct.

Elyse: What habitat do elephants most easily adapt to?

That’s an interesting question because elephants are actually very adaptable. In places where they have lost their preferred habitat, which is flooded grassland around rivers, they can actually go to quite hilly areas (which are not places where you would expect to find elephants). They can live in quite dense forest.

They don’t like very steep or sharp mountain areas. Places like limestone hillsides where rocks stick out. Those are not places where you would expect to find elephants. But, they can cope in hilly country.

They like closed forest, although maybe the food sources there are not very good. They are probably better off in secondary forest where they can knock down a few trees, open up the forest a bit, letting grasses and other vegetation grow. Sort of “farm” an area. They actually “modify” their habitat and make it more suitable.

Elita: Why did you become interested in elephants?

I’ve always been interested in big mammals. I’ve worked on wild cattle, but elephants are perhaps the most unusual of the big mammals because they are very big and very intelligent. Unlike animals like wild cattle, which can weigh 1000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) but are not very intelligent. They can communicate in very subtle ways. There is a whole range of elephant behavior which we are only still learning about.

To say that elephants are “human” is incorrect but they have a lot of characteristics that have a similarity to humans.

Jim Harris: Were you interested in animals when you were young?

Yes. I collected frogs and toads and other amphibians. I used to stock ponds in the backyard with them. I wasn’t allowed to have a menagerie but my friend’s parents were much more liberal and allowed him to have them, so I had a menagerie at his house, where my parents couldn’t see it!

Elita: What purposes do the tusks serve?

They act as a weapon used for fighting and in dominance competition. Particularly during breeding, tusks can inflict injuries. They are also used for digging. For example, in areas where water is short they will actually use their tusks to dig in the ground to loosen it so they can get to the water underneath.

They are also used for carrying items. Domesticated elephants will often pick up a tree with their trunk. They will balance the tree on their tusks and use the trunk as a steadying item to hold the tree between their tusks.

Jim Harris: Is a tusk more like a tooth or a bone?

The tusks are a much modified incisor tooth. Its characteristics are “ivory” which is different from a normal tooth because it does not have a layer of the hard enamel. True ivory only exists in a few animals, such as marine mammals like the walrus and the narwhal.

Ivory is a unique material It doesn’t have the structure of an elephant’s tooth, which is very hard to withstand the grinding they need to do to digest their food. It has the characteristics of the center of the tooth. It is actually very strong but also has a degree of softness that has been used over the years for carvings.

The actual surface of the tusk is dead. It doesn’t have nerve endings. Tusks grow continuously throughout the elephant’s life. In the same way that the tusk is a modified tooth, the center of the tusk has blood vessels and nerves. If a tusk is damaged it is extremely painful. Cutting through a tusk, if done improperly, is very bad indeed.

Hannah: Why do elephants migrate?

Mainly because they need a huge amount of food. Often they live in areas where the climate is very seasonal. Like all large mammals, if food sources die off because of a long dry season, they have to move to where it has been raining recently and there is still green food to eat. If there is a varied climate, the elephants, as with all the large mammals, follow their food. Sometimes that’s a long walk. That’s why they migrate.

Alexis: Is poaching illegal in Laos? If so, what is the punishment?

Yes. They are a protected species in Laos. The punishment, I can’t be absolutely certain of, but it would probably be several years in jail.

As far as we know (we don’t have a lot of information) elephants are generally respected in Laos. In fact, they are rather revered, as they are in most countries in Southeast Asia. The number of actual killings of elephants for their ivory, for example, is relatively small. (Although, that may well be because we don’t actually find many carcasses).

Aaron W.: Why don’t female Asian elephants have tusks?

Ah! They do!

All elephants have the modified teeth that we call tusks. In Africa both males and females have the obvious tusks that we know. Female Asian elephants have much shorter tusks. Maybe 20 centimeters or 8 inches long. They are so short that her gum and lip cover the tusk, so you cannot easily see it.

If you see an adult female Asia elephant lifting up her trunk, sometimes you will see two little flashes of white showing where her short tusks are.

Why don’t they have big ones? Like African elephants. I don’t know the answer to that.

Yer: If the Asians know that the elephants are becoming extinct, why are they still reducing the areas where elephants can live?

That’s because elephants are using the same areas. Like people throughout the world, what people in Laos think about is making a living, having enough food and providing for their families. Elephants are something that people admire, or are in awe of, or are frightened by. But generally, most people don’t think about why elephants are becoming rarer, or might go extinct.

Most people concentrate on their lives as humans and it doesn’t really make them think about elephants. Make them worry that elephants are going to be extinct. Generally, people’s attitudes toward elephants in Asia are very positive. Most Asians, if asked about elephants, say, “Yes. We really like them. We wouldn’t want them to go extinct.”

Even people who have farms. They might have elephants coming in and taking their crops. They wish the elephants would stop but in most cases they don’t want to hurt the elephants.

Its part of the process of human population growth that we need to find ways that allow the elephants and humans to use some of the same areas without conflict.

Dominic: Why are Asian elephants smaller than African elephants?

The simple answer is, “Because they are a different species.”

Maybe they have adapted. Over time they have evolved to be smaller because that fits in better with either what they eat or the forests they live in. Most of the characteristics of animals are derived over a period of evolution. The size that works best is the one which has characteristics beneficial for the survival of the next generation.

There are some variations. For example, the elephants on the island of Borneo are actually considerably smaller than the elephants in India or Sri Lanka. In fact, they may yet be classified as a separate species. (I must check on the current status of that!) They are considerably smaller. That’s just the way they have evolved. They don’t seem to have a specific advantage to being small. They didn’t “need” to get big through pressure from the environment.

Jordyn: In what kind of habitat do you most commonly find Asian elephants?

Nowadays tropical forest is the place where most Asian elephants live. In the past, maybe 50 or 100 years ago, elephants would have been down by the rivers, out in the areas of grassland that normally lie beside a river. In the valleys. They would have been swimming in the rivers and feeding on the grasses.

But… they can live in forests very happily too and need the resources they find there. They can get away from people more easily in a forest.

Emily: What does an elephant’s diet consist of?

An elephant eats for up to 18 hours every day. They consume a vast amount of food. Their diet varies. They eat roots, grasses, shrubs, tree leaves, fruits, bark. All sorts of things, but all vegetable material. They don’t eat any animals at all.

Mitch: Are Asian elephants harmful to people, or are they more of a gentle animal?

It depends on whether they feel threatened. For example, every year there are several injuries by elephants taking part in elephant festivals. Maybe it’s a case of the crowd becoming boisterous and the animals feeling threatened. Some elephants at these events have actually gotten aggressive and attacked people. But, it’s a rare event. Most domesticated elephants are incredibly gentle.

Wild elephant behavior is very variable too. Sometimes, if you are walking in the forest and you meet a group of elephants, if you watch them they will look at you and then they will move away. On other occasions they will get upset and charge you and chase after you and try to injure you. It’s very hard to know exactly what drives elephant behavior. Maybe they are just having a bad day when they get aggressive.

Emily: What is the most dangerous elephant in the world and why?

I think the most dangerous elephant in the wild is the one in people’s mind. If people think that elephants are big and dangerous and aggressive then they have certain views about whether they should survive as a species. It’s the elephant that people “imagine” that’s dangerous.

Lauren: What would cause an elephant to become mean and dangerous?

As I’ve said, if it’s been maltreated by humans or, if it’s been shot and is carrying around a wound, that is going to make it angry.

Sometimes, elephants just get “stressed”. If you push a lot of people into a small space the people will get aggressive. That’s pretty much what we’ve done to elephants. They used to have all this great area to roam over. Now, they’re stuck in a little block of forest living by people who do agriculture who get very aggressive when elephants come out of

the forest and start eating their crops. Then, that makes the elephants pretty stressed as well.

Aaron C.: How long does it take a baby Asian elephant to become full grown?

About 15 years would be reasonable. After about 15 years a female Asian elephant is on the verge of being an adult. For males, maybe a few more years. Maybe up to age 20.

In terms of breeding and producing offspring, from 15 for a female. Way beyond that for a male because only the real dominant males get to do most of the breeding.

Brady: What is considered a natural predator to elephants?

Humans and tigers.

About the only animal that is a threat to an Asian elephant, apart from humans, is the tiger (which could threaten a juvenile animal). Certainly, an adult elephant is more than a match for a tiger. A tiger would not try to attack an adult elephant. But, if they are really hungry or they have the opportunity a tiger might try to take a juvenile or a new born.

Elyse: How do elephants defend themselves?

They are very well armed! They will use their tusks if they are males. If they are females they will use their trunk. The trunk is a very powerful item. It can pick up most animals, knock them over, and probably knock them unconscious.

One of our survey team got caught by a female elephant in Sumatra. He was climbing a tree to get away and she just plucked him off the tree with her trunk and was rolling him about on the ground. He was unconscious. He was only saved from being crushed because his colleague came down the tree and slapped her on the leg with the flat side of a machete. The elephant was maybe so surprised that she wandered off. He survived.

Diane: How can you prevent elephant attacks?

I wish I knew! If an elephant is going to charge there is very little you can do to stop it. An elephant can run at about 18 miles per hour for a short period. It’s hard to out run one over a short distance. The best thing you can do if an elephant is charging you is to get out of its sight. Don’t run down the path in front of it because it’s going to overtake you.

What you want to do is get out of its sight and then get away from it. Its eyesight isn’t good.

If it’s really angry it will sense you out. They can smell really well, and it will keep on coming. People have had to run a kilometer to get away from a really angry elephant!

Dakota: What impact have the land mines in Laos had on the elephant population?

Very little that I’m aware of. In Thailand, in some of the elephant hospitals where elephants are cared for, they have several cases where elephants have been injured by landmines. In fact, for one elephant they were trying to make an artificial front leg. It had had its leg blown off by a land mine in Burma when it was working in the forest.

We don’t see very many injured elephants. The forest is very extensive so none of the elephants that I’ve seen have had obvious injuries from landmines or unexploded ordnance.

Shelby: When is an elephant considered full grown?

Let’s say between 15 and 18 for females. Maybe 20 for a male.

Hannah: What is the most interesting thing you have learned about elephants in the years that you have been studying them?

The most impressive thing, which I found out early on, is that you can walk in the forest and you think, “I’m going to see elephants because they are big gray things that stand nine feet high, and I’m going to see them.”

You don’t see them. You often don’t hear them. An elephant walks through the forest almost completely silently. The only thing that will tell you that you are suddenly in the middle of a group of elephants is the fact that they make rumbling noises (which is part of their communication).

It’s always a bit worrying when you are walking up a track through the forest and you’ve seen nothing, and you’ve heard nothing. Then, you hear this rumbling sound and you think, “There’s an elephant behind that bush!” (And, its about twenty yards away!) That’s what always impresses me.

Lauren: Are elephants color blind?

Yes, they are.

Elyse: What is their most dominant sense?

It’s hard to judge which is their best sense. They have a very good sense of smell. Their hearing is also very good; it’s very different from human hearing. Elephants can detect frequencies which are way too low for us. If you heard something like a jackhammer that has a really deep noise. Well, they can hear things way below that. Maybe hearing and smelling are about equal.

Nicole: How long can elephants go without eating?

Not very long. They need to eat almost continuously to maintain their body weight. In Africa elephants do go for several days without substantial food when they are on migration for a new food source. Or, if they are in the desert in places such as Namibia. They will actually travel quite a distance but they will lose weight rapidly.

They need to drink water. Drink is more important than food, as it is for most mammals.

Jim Harris: Can elephants drink water through their trunks?

That’s a good one! What I suggest is that everyone tries drinking a glass of water through their nose and see if they enjoy it.

They elephant’s trunk is very like a nose and a top lip combined. They can suck up quite a volume of water into the trunk, but they don’t actually drink through it. What they do is they fill it up. Then, they stick it in their mouth and squirt it down. It’s a bit like sucking up through a straw stuck up your nose. Don’t try this!

Hannah Z: Are elephants monogamous?

No. They are polygamous. The dominant males will do most of the breeding and will produce most of the offspring.

Jim Harris: I’m surprised that no one asked if elephants can swim.

They can swim very nicely, thank you. They love water. Quite a few animals are keen on water but elephants will often break into a run when they come down to a lake. They are so excited by being able to play in water.

Jim Harris: That brings us to the end. Do you think we’ve left anything important out?

That was easy. The only thing that I’m really disappointed in is that I didn’t get to mention that they go to the bathroom 18 times a day! If you eat for 18 hours a day just imagine where that is going and where it’s going to end up.

I’m a bit disappointed also that no one asked, “What do you give an elephant with diarrhea?”

Jim Harris: Okay, I’ll ask. What do you give an elephant with diarrhea?

Plenty of room!