SHORT-DURATION DAYTIME MOVEMENTS OF A COW HERD OF AFRICAN ELEPHANTS

• Published in: Journal of mammalogy Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 151 - 157
• Main Authors: Dai, Xiaohua, Shannon, Graeme, Slotow, Rob, Page, Bruce, Duffy, Kevin J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Provo, UT American Society of Mammalogists 01.02.2007; Brigham Young University, Department of Zoology; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Animal ethology; animal movement; Animals; Atoms & subatomic particles; Autocorrelation; Biological and medical sciences; Ecological modeling; elephant; Elephants; FEATURE ARTICLES; Females; Food movements; Foraging; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Game reserves; Herds; Law; looping; Loxodonta africana; Lévy walk; Mammalia; Mammalogy; Movement; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Random walk; Random walk theory; Studies; Vertebrata; South Africa; Proboscidea; looping; Loxodonta africana; animal movement; Ox; Duration; Cow; Animal active movement; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Artiodactyla; elephant; Ungulata; Lévy walk
• ISSN: 0022-2372; 1545-1542
• DOI: 10.1644/06-MAMM-A-035R1.1

We examined daytime movements of a herd of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at 10-min, 15-min, and 20-min intervals in Pongola Game Reserve, South Africa. This group tended to proceed in a consistent direction during consecutive movements, especially during long moves. Serial movement lengths and serial movement angles were autocorrelated at 10-min and 15-min intervals but not at 20-min intervals, indicating that 20-min intervals may be a suitable temporal scale to avoid oversampling. Herd movements followed a Lévy-modulated correlated random walk. In addition, looping movements were detected. Spatial scale of the loops averaged about 1 km. Movement strategies that include both Lévy walks and correlated random walks are thought to optimize foraging.