Reaching of the trunk to touch, or near touch the temporal gland of another typically in a Social Play or Affiliative context. This behavior is often observed during Sparring and following meeting/greeting of individuals. Elephants are very tactile animals with a tremendously perceptive sense of smell. More research is required to fully understand why elephants touch different parts of the faces of other elephants.
Two young males come together and greet one another. The arriving male greets the one with the collar Trunk-to-Mouth. The one with the collar greets the arriving male Trunk-to-Temporal-Glands and then Trunk-to-Genitals x 3. A third male arrives and the camera zooms in. The first two males continue to greet one another; the collared male male reaches Trunk-to-Temporal-Glands again and again and then pauses in a Circus-Pose before reaching Trunk-to-Temporal-Glands and Trunk-to-Mouth to the second male. There is no audio. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)
