Elephants Use 40+ Gestures to Communicate
Researchers documented more than 40 intentional gesture types used by wild African savanna elephants in competitive contexts.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Wildlife
Researchers documented more than 40 intentional gesture types used by wild African savanna elephants to communicate, asking rival elephants to move away or stop what they are doing. The study drew on around 840 individual gesture instances observed across more than 90 hours.
Why it matters
The findings show that wild elephants adapt their gestures to a recipient's visual attention and keep signaling when a response falls short of their goal. Such flexible, intentional communication adds to scientific understanding of how large-brained social mammals coordinate behavior.
The study recorded around 840 individual gesture instances across more than 90 hours of observation at Addo Elephant National Park and Marakele National Park in South Africa. Of 33 gesture types seen in successful communications, 21 carried both meanings, and the two South African populations shared the same gesture types.
The details
Researchers visually checked whether another elephant was attending before and during each gesture, and elephants adjusted their signals to the recipient's visual attention. After gesturing, elephants waited for a response and produced further gestures when the recipient did not respond in a way that met their goal.
Timeline
The article reporting the study was published on November 2, 2026.
The observation period for the wild elephant gestures lasted more than 90 hours, with dates not specified.
Wildlife Communication Record
The study extends the ElephantVoices database, which has catalogued elephant vocalizations and gestures from Kenya and Mozambique, by adding gesture data from two South African populations. The shared gesture types across those populations suggest a common communicative repertoire across regional elephant groups.
For readers interested in animal behavior, the study offers a concrete example of how wild mammals adjust signals based on whether others are paying attention. The findings may inform how people observe and interpret communication among animals they encounter in the wild.
The takeaway
Observing whether another animal is paying attention can help explain why a signal succeeds or needs repeating. Elephants repeat and adjust their gestures when a rival does not respond, a pattern that is easy to notice in other social animals too.
Further reading
Explore more on Wildlife for additional context on how animals communicate and behave in the wild.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Daily Journal.
