Elephants in Musth: Love on the Brain
If you spot an elephant swaggering through the bai, or forest clearing, with strange stains on its swollen temples and a mood suggesting a killer headache, watch out — you might have found a male in musth. Musth, from the Urdu word mast meaning “intoxication” or “madness”¹, is a period of increased sexual activity and aggression in male elephants. Musth was originally discovered in Asian elephants but has more recently been identified in African elephants¹.
Musth is different from the mating seasons of other animals like deer, since it occurs throughout the year and usually only affects one male in a group at one time². The musth period ranges from a few weeks to nine months, but the typical range is 2–3 months². Musth affects adult males, with first onset typically around 28 years old, although recently younger males have been observed in musth³. Swollen temporal glands and secretions of a substance called temporin that stain the face are clues that a male is in musth¹. Another clue is their unique posture, with head and ears held high above the shoulders¹. With testosterone levels that can be fifty times the normal amount, it’s no surprise that musth males engage in more risky and aggressive behavior, challenging other males for access to females as well as attacking other animals and vehicles⁴. During these confrontations, males may use their tusks to uproot bushes or throw logs at a rival¹. During musth, males spend more time seeking a mate than searching for food, which leads to significant weight loss. The eventual weakness caused by this weight loss helps to limit the length of the musth period.
For the forest elephants studied by the Elephant Listening Project, the bai is a center of social activity. When a male in musth enters the bai, he has a profound effect on the dynamics of elephant society. Their distinctive scent, caused by both the temporin secretions and a constant dribble of urine, alerts other elephants to their state. Long, low vocalizations may be another way males communicate their condition to other elephants. These pulsating “musth rumbles” can be heard for long distances and attract receptive females, who reply with a series of rumbles of their own¹. Although bulls can mate successfully when out of musth, this period of “madness” gives them the increased aggression and determination needed to fight for a female’s favor¹. Bulls in musth spend much more time around female herds than non-musth bulls². A female elephant, even if pursued by many non-musth suitors, seems to select the most dominant, musth male out of the crowd. Although musth rumbles may lead to competition between musth males, they also act as warning to non-musth males. Even larger and normally higher-ranking male elephants will flee a challenge from such a male, perhaps knowing that these fights risk injury or death for the non-musth participant⁴.
Musth also plays an interesting role in the relationships between older and younger males. The presence of these old males delays the onset of musth for young males, and can even stop the process in its tracks. Aggressive encounters with an older musth male can force a young male out of musth, with the physical symptoms disappearing in as quick as a few hours⁵. This seems to keep the younger elephants in check, preventing excessive recklessness at a young and inexperienced age. Without the influence of the older male hierarchy, adolescents in musth can wreak havoc. Between 1996 and 2001, young male elephants were responsible for the deaths of 63 white and black rhinoceroses in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa³. This was highly unusual, and troubling for the critically endangered black rhino and threatened white rhino species³. 79% of the rhino carcasses were found near rivers, which led researchers to think that the deaths were the result of territorial conflicts with elephants at shared water sources³. These troublemakers were orphaned by earlier elephant culls and grew up without older male guidance. They reached musth at an early age of 17–25 years, and their musth periods lasted longer than elephants twice their age. Normally, the length of a bull’s musth increases gradually, and it seems like this experience helps the bull to get used to the raging testosterone levels without losing control⁵. The re-introduction of older male elephants to the park seemed to have a calming effect on these adolescents, decreasing musth duration and reported rhino deaths⁵.
Adult male elephants, although not tied to a family group, still have a powerful presence in elephant society. This influence is especially evident during musth, where their heightened sexual and aggressive state leads to conflict with other musth males, avoidance by non-musth males, and mating with females. The loss of older males through poaching may lead to the “juvenile delinquency” like that observed in young culling orphans in South Africa. Research continues to reveal the complexity of elephant social structures — and how vulnerable these structures can be to human activity.
References:
¹ Poole, Joyce H. “Rutting Behavior in African Elephants: the Phenomenon of Musth.” Behaviour 102, no. 3–4 (September 1987): 283–316. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4534627?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
² Poole, Joyce H., and Cynthia J. Moss. “Musth in the African Elephant, Loxodonta Africana.” Nature 292, no. 5826 (1981): 830–31. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15931750_Musth_in_the_African_elephant_Loxodonta_africana.
³ Slotow, Rob, Dave Balfour, and Owen Howison. “Killing of Black and White Rhinoceroses by African Elephants in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa.” Pachyderm, no. 31 (2001): 14–20. Retrieved from: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=pdfviewer&id=1253211728&folder=125
⁴ Hall-Martin, Anthony J. “Role of Musth in the Reproductive Strategy of the African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana).” South African Journal of Science 83, no. 10 (October 1987): 618–20. Retrieved from: https://journals.co.za/content/sajsci/83/10/AJA00382353_5408
⁵ Slotow, Rob, Gus Van Dyk, Joyce Poole, Bruce Page, and Andre Klocke. “Older Bull Elephants Control Young Males.” Nature 408, no. 6811 (2000): 425–26. Retrieved from: https://go-gale-com.proxy.library.cornell.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=nysl_sc_cornl&id=GALE%7CA188051462&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon
