African Elephants Use Unique Body Odour to Communicate, Research Shows

African Elephants Use Unique Body Odour to Communicate, Research Shows
Elephants head towards hay delivered by Kenya Wildlife Services at the Amboseli National Park as feed-aid for forage deprived herbivores hard hit by drought on Nov. 30, 2022. Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
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African elephants use their unique sense of smell to communicate, distinguish their mates and outsiders, and maintain social cohesion.

These are the findings of a group of researchers from the University of Queensland, who found that smell was used to distinguish characteristics including age, health, reproductive status, location, identity, social status and family relationships between elephants.

Nina Nguyen
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Nina Nguyen is a reporter based in Sydney. She covers Australian news with a focus on social, cultural, and identity issues. She is fluent in Vietnamese. Contact her at [email protected].
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