Welcome to ElephantVoices

Visit The Elephant Ethogram - with over 3000 video clips, sounds and photos
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Learn about the intricacies of the social life of elephants
Meet Dr. Joyce Poole, Co-Founder of ElephantVoices
How do elephants communicate? Sight, sound, scent, touch and vibration…
Visit the fascinating elephants in Gorongosa, Mozambique
Learn how to sex and identify African elephants
Meet Petter Granli, Co-Founder of ElephantVoices
Elephant needing your help? Find sound arguments in "Statements & Testimonies"

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At @elephantvoices we are embarking on an exciting new stage in the study of elephant acoustic communication: A collaboration with the linguistics team at @projectceti - the Cetecean Translation Initiative. Joyce recently spent a couple of days at @ucberkeleyofficial to meet and learn from the team led by @begusgasper, and to share with them some of what we have learned about elephant communication. As you can see from the photographs - we brainstormed and laughed a lot together. We have a similar outlook: Agreeing that understanding what whales and elephants communicate is important because it will allow us to better protect these charismatic, endangered megafauna. And, further, because it brings us joy to learn from them! 1.⁠ ⁠Joyce and Gašper Beguš outside the Sather Gate. 2.⁠ ⁠Joyce chatting with linguistics students. 3.⁠ ⁠Gašper Beguš, Joyce and Stephan Meylan, a Post Doc who will be working with us.

Pat Derby's family Moving-While-Feeding. Note Pat's Grasp-Seedling-Slice-with-Foot technique. (Maasai Mara, Kenya) The behavior illustrated in this video is: Moving-While-Feeding: Moving or Walking while continuing to Graze or Browse. To learn more about elephant behavior visit The Elephant Ethogram via the link in our bio. #theelephantethogram #elephantvoices #conservation #elephants

We so enjoyed catching up with Patty Shenker at the @pawsark2000 Elephant Conference in Los Angeles and then staying with her and husband Doug and their 3 sweet dogs afterwards. Patty is a passionate and creative activist whom we love and admire. Her unwavering dedication to the fight for animals right and welfare inspires us all. She was instrumental in supporting @elephantvoices when it became a 501(c)(3) non-profit in California over 15 years ago, hosting fundraisers in her home and getting her friends to support us. (The second photograph is from 2009) Patty is a one of a kind - we are forever grateful for knowing her. Thank you, Patty! Joyce & Petter

“The loss of large mammals is a significant ecological issue for Africa and the planet.” – Dave Balfour, Ecologist Between 1964 and 2016, Africa’s elephant populations declined by 77%, primarily due to poaching and habitat loss. While elephants disappeared from some areas, their numbers rebounded in others, thanks to successful conservation efforts. A separate population estimate, conducted independently of the above study, placed the combined total of Africa's two elephant species at between 415,000 and 540,000 as of 2016. This remains the most recent comprehensive, continent-wide estimate of African elephant populations. For further details, we recommend reading the full @reuters article via the link in our bio. #elephantpopulations #elephantconservation #elephants #africanelephants

Thank you to @pawsark2000 for bringing together so many good people who work tirelessly to improve the lives of captive animals. During the two day conference in Los Angeles we learned about the challenging work of so many and celebrated PAWS 40th anniversary. It was wonderful to see so many of our friends and colleagues, including PAWS’ Co-Founder and Chair Ed Stewart. A special treat was finally meeting @mickeypardophd with whom we have collaborated on elephant communication for many years. He gave a brilliant talk on elephant intelligence and its implications for welfare. #pawsconference #paws #elephantvoices #elephantsanctuary

Elephants rely on their sense of smell and hearing more than they do on their sight. African elephants, in particular, spend much of their time with their eyes cast down, their long lashes covering their irises. It is only when elephants are drawn to look directly at something unexpected, alarming or deserving of study, that they open their eyes wide. It is a rare treat to look into the eyes of an African elephant, and when you do you are rewarded with beautiful amber-colored irises. Our daughter @selengei's first name is Amber, for the eyes of elephants. #elephantvoices #conservation #elephantsofinstagram #elephantconservation

X004 in musth uproots a trunkful of grass and swishes or sweeps the clump against his body and thumps it on the ground to remove some of the dirt before placing it in his mouth. The behavior illustrated in this video Sweep-off-Dirt: Grasping a clump of grass with the trunk and sweeping it up and against the ridges on the underside of the trunk to remove the soil clinging to its roots. Alternatively, holding the clump in the trunk and sweeping is against the chest, between the fore-legs. We are not sure what age this technique is acquired. Elephant ID: @amboseli_trust This footage was record for The Elephant Ethogram in 2020. To learn more about elephant behavior visit The Elephant Ethogram via the link in our bio. #theelephantethogram #elephantvoices #conservation #elephants

#ThrowbackThursday 🐘 Mark (m0046) peaking through the palms, ca.1978. Mark was one of the first elephants Joyce got to know when Cynthia Moss of @amboseli_trust tasked her with photographing and registering the adult males of the Amboseli population. He was a beautiful male with asymmetrical tusks. 🐘 #elephantvoices #conservation #elephants

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