A short (lasting less than half a second in duration) crying call given by an infant or calf under the age of five years in some form of mild distress (e.g. when denied access to the breast or when protesting unwanted contact by an older elephant). Cries are often followed by a Rumble without an inhalation, creating a Cry-Rumble, and rarely a Cry may be both preceded and followed by a Rumble producing a Rumble-Cry-Rumble. When a calf's Begging-Rumbles or Grumbling-Rumbles fail to induce its mother to stop and adopt a Suckle-Stance the calf may escalate it's begging to a higher-pitched Cry, Cry-Rumble, Roar, or Roar-Rumble.
Many of the Cries in our collection were recorded at feeding time among the orphaned calves in Tsavo at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Feeding time is frenzied with calves pushing and shoving for access to the milk bottles and coconut cakes. Most Cry and Cry-Rumbles in the wild are made by Begging calves, although calves may also cry when in mild distress. At this stage our data suggest that Cries, Cry-Rumbles and Rumble-Cry-Rumbles are given in similar contexts.
References: Poole 2011. (Full reference list)
This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Calf Nourishment & Weaning