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  3. Periscope-Trunk

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Periscope-Trunk

Lifting and holding the trunk up in an S-shape. This posture is used in many contexts: Most well-known is the apparent adoption of this stance to detect scents carried on the wind, including, for instance, rain or predators. In this Attentive context Periscope-Trunk is particularly used when meeting strangers, potential dangers or if additional information is required. The assumption has long been that this is a form of sniffing (and originally referred to as Periscope-Sniffing), though we believe that it is also a signal - as in a ‘pay attention’ or ‘heads up.’

Media caption

A young male with snare damage on his trunk adopts a Periscope-Trunk as he monitors us. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)

Other examples of the behavior