An adorable one-month-old baby elephant has become part of a scientific study to understand how these gentle giants communicate. Researchers at the world’s oldest zoo in Austria are using hi-tech microphones to detect how the baby, named Kibali, is learning to speak to her mother. The project involves recording the communication between Kibali and her mother, with the equipment capturing both audible and inaudible sounds.
The baby elephant was named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and her mother, Numbi, 20, has already raised two baby elephants since arriving in Vienna in 2009.
Christopher Gorofsky, 24, is conducting some of the research as part of his master’s program. His work is part of a long-term project by a team from the University of Vienna, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Gorofsky explained that the zoo is an ideal location for this study because approaching mother elephants and their young in the wіɩd is very dіffісᴜɩt and dапɡeгoᴜѕ.
Project manager Angela Stöger-Horwath from the Department of Cognitive Biology said, “We want to learn which sounds are innate and which are learned. We also want to see if she’s copying her sounds from her mother.” She added that elephants have different sound types, with the most well-known being the trumpet. However, the most common sound is the so-called rumbling, which resembles the sound of a truck engine. The lowest frequency component of this sound is in the infrasound range, inaudible to humans, but detectable with special equipment.
The subject of Gorofsky’s thesis is “Early Mother-Child Communication Among African Elephants in the Zoo.” He has been granted unlimited access to all areas of the elephant park, similar to the keepers, to record the necessary data.
Sounds good: Christopher Gorofsky is conducting some of the research as part of his master’s program.
Scientists have been using sensitive microphones to record the communication between a mother elephant and her baby. This research focuses on how the baby female elephant is learning to speak to her mother.
One researcher explained, “In the beginning, Kibali made hardly any sounds. However, her communication has been steadily increasing since then. When she wants to drink with her mother, she makes a kind of squeak.”
The researcher also noted that Kibali uses body language to convey her needs, such as indicating whether she wants to drink, play, or acknowledge her mother’s calls.
Kibali, named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is being raised by her 20-year-old mother, Numbi. Numbi, who саme to Vienna in 2009, has already raised two baby elephants, making her experienced and an ideal subject for this research on developing mother-baby relationships.