Young elephants appear to be born with a pre-wired ability to produce certain calls such as crying out in distress. Yet, we know that elephants are capable of vocal imitation and we know that social learning is key to the acquisition of many elephant behaviors.  It is, therefore, likely that certain calls are learned. For instance, calls that are associated with a level of "responsibility" seem to be used only by older elephants. It seems plausible that as young elephants mature they learn how and when to use these calls by listening to their contextual usage by older animals. We also know that males learn to stop using certain calls. It may be that some of the calls that they used as family members gradually become "uncool" to use as they grow and enter the world of males.