ANIMALS
Elephants say ‘hello’ by flapping their ears and making noises
WORDS MEG DUFF
When elephants reunite with friends, they greet each other with ear
flaps, rumbles and other deliberate sounds and gestures.
A new study suggests that elephants are communicating intentionally and that they tailor their greeting depending on what other elephants are doing. For example, when another elephant was already paying attention, elephants were more likely to use visual gestures, otherwise they were more likely to use touch. “For me, it was really exciting to finally do this, to finally understand how they use their bodies to communicate,” said Vesta Eleuteri, a graduate student at the University of Vienna. “It’s just mind-blowing that they do rely on it so much, but it’s so overlooked.”