Watch the sighting here:
Regular contributor Hayley Myburgh sent this video to Latest Sightings, after witnessing the “trunkated” battle in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Face-off
As Hayley’s video begins, two young elephant bulls face off on the road ahead of her vehicle. After a few moments, the pair approach each other with heads raised as they prepare to spar with one another.
Male elephants leave their natal herds at around 14 years of age, joining other males to form bachelor herds. A hierarchy must be established within these groups.
Sparring partners
Usually, they engage in mock battles like the one filmed, using restrained combat to reduce the risk of injury. These “fights” are essentially a show of strength, where the participants lock tusks and push each other around.
Bouts can go on for extended periods, with the ‘combatants’ oblivious of their surroundings. Occasionally, these tussles can escalate into full-blown battles, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fight paused
As the two adversaries wrestled for dominance, something strange happened. Suddenly, the pair stopped what they were doing and simply stood, nearly motionless. It seemed they were waiting for something to happen.
And then, something unexpected did happen…
“Something” happens
It seems that even in Nature, when Nature calls, the call must be answered.
With its rear end conveniently facing the camera, the nearest elephant raised its tail and proceeded to “go potty”. All this while his foe looked on patiently.
Subsequently, after depositing three steaming dollops of doo-doo on the road, it seems the elephant realised he had more to do than just a “number two”.
But wait! There’s more!
With that, he, umm, lowered his “undercarriage”, releasing a torrent of urine between his widely splayed hind legs. All this to the dismay of Hayley and her travelling companions.
Meanwhile, the other elephant continued waiting patiently for his indisposed opponent to finish his business. He wasn’t about to let him off that easily.
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Sent back or taken aback?
Having lightened his load, the freshly relieved bull was once again ready for action. His successful ablutions also seem to have reinvigorated him. For, when he and his partner recommenced their sparring, he easily drove him backwards
Or perhaps what he had just witnessed so startled the other elephant that he could no longer take the battle seriously.
Inefficient eating machines
As one would expect, elephants have a huge appetite and will regularly consume upwards of 100 kilograms of vegetation per day. This includes grass, roots and tubers, leaves, bark, branches and fruit.
However, unlike ruminant herbivores with an efficient 4-stomach digestive system, elephants only have one stomach, making them hindgut fermenters. Consequently, their digestion is inefficient, with up to 80% of what they eat passing through undigested.
The molars initially break down the plant matter, before it passes into the stomach, where digestion begins. From there, it passes into the caecum, where major digestion, aided by gut bacteria and protozoa, takes place.
The small and large intestines then absorb some of the nutrients as the largely intact matter moves through them, before it is expelled as dung.
However, their dung does not go to waste. It plays a vital role in fertilising the soil, aids germination in some plants and provides a micro-habitat vital to the survival of numerous other organisms, from dung beetles to useful bacteria.