Behavioral indices of estrus in a group of captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Abstract

This study investigated behavioral signals of estrus by systematically monitoring the interactions of one male with four female African elephants housed in a naturalistic outdoor enclosure at Disney's Animal Kingdom over a period of 11 months. We measured changes in five spatial behaviors and 22 tactile‐contact behaviors, as well as changes in serum progestagen and LH concentrations, across three ovarian cycles for each female. Two females did not cycle during the study. Three different phases of the ovarian cycle were identified: mid luteal, anovulatory follicular, ovulatory follicular. The male followed more and carried out more genital inspections, flehmen, and trunk‐to‐mouth behaviors toward cycling females during their ovulatory phase. Genital inspections by the male peaked above baseline levels on the day of an LH surge, and up to 9 days before, in both cycling females and, thus, might be a useful behavioral index of estrus. The male also carried out more genital inspections, flehmen, and trunk touches to the back leg toward ovulatory cycling than noncycling females. Overall, our results indicated that: 1) a single subadult African elephant male could discriminate two females in the ovulatory phase of their cycle (i.e., during the 3 weeks preceding ovulation) from the mid luteal phase; 2) the male also discriminated two cycling females in the ovulatory and anovulatory follicular phases from two noncycling females; 3) two females in the ovulatory phase of the cycle displayed a greater variety of tactile‐contact behavior toward the male compared to the other cycle phases.