Purposeful-Walk

An elephant walking with long strides in a directed, intentional manner as if he or she has a goal in mind. The normal gait of an elephant is a slow ambling, sometimes meandering walk. Instead, this manner of walking is purposeful and is observed in situations where elephants have a particular destination (e.g. Group-March), or when they appear to be trying to draw attention to themselves to advertise their sexual state or condition (e.g. Estrous-Walk, Musth-Walk, Parallel-Walk) or in an act of leadership (for example during Guiding, Perpendicular-Walk). In this latter context one may observe sweeping motions of the trunk - Trunk-Sweep for added visual impact.

Different age sex classes may be observed engaging in Purposeful-Walking depending upon the context: Musth males and estrous females in an Advertisement & Attraction context, adult males and females in Aggressive and Attacking & Mobbing contexts; adult females - as leaders - in Coalition Building, Movement Space & Leadership and Calf Protection & Reassurance contexts.

References: Poole & Granli 2021. (Full reference list)

This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Advertisement & Attraction, Aggressive, Attacking & Mobbing, Coalition Building, Movement, Space & Leadership