Rubbing

Rubbing the head, ears, legs or body against a tree trunk, log, stump or boulder, or on another elephant, often after Mud-Wallowing or Mud-Splashing. Musth males use Rubbing to mark a tree or the ground (when mud wallowing) with Temporal-Gland-Secretion and as a visual display. Rubbing may be so vigorous that the male departs with bark and debris on the side of his face. Dissected temporal glands have been found to have pieces of bark embedded deep inside them.

All age/sex groups engage in Rubbing in a Foraging & Comfort Technique context, while only musth males engage in Rubbing in an Advertisement & Attraction context.

References: Douglas-Hamilton 1972: 83 illustration; Poole 1982: 51; Poole 1987a; Kahl & Armstrong 2002; Poole & Granli 2003; [Marking]. (Full reference list)

This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Advertisement & Attraction, Foraging & Comfort Technique

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (1)

Viajante, who acts as if he is in musth, Rub on a tree and then continues on his way. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (2)

A one year old calf uses Mwana Nzo’s leg as a Rubbing post. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (3)

A young male rubs his neck and rump on a small tree. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (4)

Infant uses his allomother's body to have a good rub. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (5)

A young male Rubs on a tree. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (6)

An infant rubs on its mother's leg and then an adolescent or young adult rubs vigorously on the body of another. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (7)

A young male stops in the middle of Sparring to Rub on a tree. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (8)

V-Notch has a good Rub on a conveniently bent over tree. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (9)

Little E is 15 days old. He Rubs his ear on his mother's leg. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (10)

Little E is a month old. He gets himself into an awkward looking position in order to rub the back of his foreleg on his mother's leg. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (11)

Little E is a month old. He Rubs himself on his mother's leg. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (12)

Pat Derby Rubs on a tree. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (13)

A year old calf Rubs first on its mother and then on a bent over tree trunk. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (14)

A juvenile male Rubs against his mother’s rump. Mothers are very tolerant of their calves using their bodies as a rubbing post. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (15)

A young female Rubs her rump on the ground in a sitting position. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (16)

Taking a break from an Escalated-Contest one contestant pauses to Rest and Rub on a tree trunk. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (17)

A male Rubs his ear and rump on the trunk of a tree. You can see by the smooth surface that this is a rubbing tree. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (18)

Icarus in full musth spends a long time at a mud-wallow splashing and engaging in various musth displays. In this short clip he sits down to Rub his rump in the mud and gives a few Musth-Rumbles and Ear-Waves, but the low frequency audio was not working and there was a lot of wind, so these can barely be heard. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (19)

Elephants are Mud-Splashing and Mud-Wallowing. Someone or something alarms them and they come out of the mud-wallow. A juvenile female uses her mother's flank as a rubbing post. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (20)

Elephants are Mud-Splashing. As she departs, an adult female uses Pascal's flank as a Rubbing post. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (21)

A calf is standing with his mother when an adult male walks over to them. The calf uses the male as a rubbing post. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (22)

A juvenile is using his mother as a rubbing post. Afterwards he reaches Trunk-to-Mouth and then Rubs on her again. (Amboseli, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (23)

A calf lies on the ground and has a good old Rub in the sand. Then he gets up and finds a new places. He uses his forefoot to Scrape-Ground and then lies down again and wiggles around a bit before getting up and following his family. Footage courtesy of Sven Zetterlund. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (24)

An adult female and then a calf Rub their rumps on a big rock near the Sand River. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Rubbing

Context: Foraging & Comfort Technique (24)

An adult female has been playing in the water with other elephants and is now getting ready to depart. She climbs up the bank and Rubs her belly on a clump of Sporobolus consimilus. (Amboseli, Kenya)