0:00:06.186,0:00:09.188 If I were to distill the 20 years of elephant research 0:00:09.188,0:00:10.623 that I've done 0:00:10.623,0:00:12.583 into one sentence, 0:00:12.583,0:00:14.047 what would it be? 0:00:14.047,0:00:15.713 What could I tell you? 0:00:15.713,0:00:19.675 I would say that elephants are just like us! 0:00:19.675,0:00:21.308 And what do I mean by that? 0:00:21.308,0:00:23.428 It takes a lot of patience 0:00:23.428,0:00:24.596 to be out there in the field 0:00:24.596,0:00:26.012 and trying to figure out patterns 0:00:26.012,0:00:28.973 of these very slow and intelligent animals. 0:00:28.973,0:00:33.439 But over time, it is true they are very similar to us. 0:00:33.439,0:00:35.390 And you think, "Well, how can I say that? 0:00:35.390,0:00:36.862 Look, they have huge ears, 0:00:36.862,0:00:38.806 they have really long noses. 0:00:38.806,0:00:40.388 What do you mean they're like us?" 0:00:40.388,0:00:44.308 Well, in fact, their families are very similar to ours. 0:00:44.308,0:00:47.743 And family is extremely important to elephants. 0:00:47.743,0:00:50.579 They grow up in very tight-knit families 0:00:50.579,0:00:53.083 and they have extended families. 0:00:53.083,0:00:54.916 And it's just like our family reunions 0:00:54.916,0:00:57.087 where you have all the aunts gathering around 0:00:57.087,0:00:59.138 with all the food they're going to bring and plan, 0:00:59.138,0:01:00.339 and all the boys are thinking, 0:01:00.339,0:01:02.166 "Are we going to play our video games together? 0:01:02.166,0:01:03.762 Are we going to spar?" 0:01:03.762,0:01:05.554 It's very, very similar, 0:01:05.554,0:01:09.640 and it's jubilant, and screaming, yelling, it's really amazing to see. 0:01:09.640,0:01:12.815 But, as soon as you get that family gathering, 0:01:12.815,0:01:14.686 it's just like a wedding or anything else, 0:01:14.686,0:01:17.315 all of the sudden the family politics come out, 0:01:17.315,0:01:20.111 and the lower-ranking individuals in this scene, 0:01:20.111,0:01:22.282 you see the arrow off to the back, 0:01:22.282,0:01:24.651 the lower-ranking individuals already know their station, 0:01:24.651,0:01:27.284 they're going to drink at the muddiest part of the pan 0:01:27.284,0:01:30.984 because the whole family's here and we can't drink at the best water 0:01:30.984,0:01:34.399 because that's reserved for the top-ranking family. 0:01:34.399,0:01:35.835 What's also very similar 0:01:35.835,0:01:38.335 is that you have elders in the group 0:01:38.335,0:01:40.087 that everyone reveres. 0:01:40.087,0:01:41.483 This is the matriarch, 0:01:41.483,0:01:43.383 and the other female is reaching over 0:01:43.383,0:01:45.176 and doing what's called a trunk to mouth 0:01:45.176,0:01:46.843 placing her trunk in the mouth, 0:01:46.843,0:01:48.346 and it's a sign of respect, 0:01:48.346,0:01:50.650 it's kind of like a handshake, 0:01:50.650,0:01:52.600 but it's also like a salute. 0:01:52.600,0:01:55.853 And this salute is learned at a very young age. 0:01:55.853,0:01:58.692 Now, ritual and bonding within the family 0:01:58.692,0:02:01.982 also facilitates coordinated activities. 0:02:01.982,0:02:05.697 So, here's a young female whose calf has fallen into the trough 0:02:05.697,0:02:07.816 and she doesn't know what to do and she panics. 0:02:07.816,0:02:10.360 Well, the older female, that's the matriarch, 0:02:10.360,0:02:13.702 she says, "No problem here," she just scoops the baby out. 0:02:13.702,0:02:16.541 Now, that's not true for a lot of different families, 0:02:16.541,0:02:18.483 they can't coordinate very well, 0:02:18.483,0:02:20.753 the younger females don't really know what to do, 0:02:20.753,0:02:22.905 but the older ones will just get down, 0:02:22.905,0:02:26.048 kneel down together and pick the baby out. 0:02:26.048,0:02:27.639 Another thing that's very similar 0:02:27.639,0:02:30.925 is the coming of age of teenage boys. 0:02:30.925,0:02:33.838 Male elephants at the age of about 12 to 15. 0:02:33.838,0:02:36.755 The biggest elephant in this photograph here 0:02:36.755,0:02:39.731 is an elephant who's about the leave the family. 0:02:39.731,0:02:42.004 He gets too big, he gets a little fresh, 0:02:42.004,0:02:44.088 the adult females had enough of him, 0:02:44.088,0:02:45.445 but he also is independent, 0:02:45.445,0:02:48.366 he wants to go out and play with the guys. 0:02:48.366,0:02:51.950 So what happens then is that you have this all male society, 0:02:51.950,0:02:53.839 very ritual male society. 0:02:53.839,0:02:56.172 Greg is our main dominant bull here, 0:02:56.172,0:02:57.456 you can see him in the middle. 0:02:57.456,0:03:01.670 He's got a huge posse, his following reveres him. 0:03:01.670,0:03:04.296 And it's very interesting how very good leaders, 0:03:04.296,0:03:05.927 very good dominant individuals 0:03:05.927,0:03:09.337 know how to titrate the carrot and the stick. 0:03:09.337,0:03:11.137 This guy's a master at it, 0:03:11.137,0:03:12.503 and there's other bullies out there 0:03:12.503,0:03:14.978 that want to kind of want to create their own little following, 0:03:14.978,0:03:17.254 but they can't do it because they're too agressive. 0:03:17.254,0:03:19.088 And so when he's not around 0:03:19.088,0:03:22.606 they try and sweet talk the underlings to come into their fold, 0:03:22.606,0:03:25.421 and they actually become less agressive. 0:03:25.421,0:03:28.672 So it's very interesting to see how politics play out 0:03:28.672,0:03:32.837 in these male and female societies. 0:03:32.837,0:03:34.619 Now back to the ladies here. 0:03:34.619,0:03:37.587 In a core family group you'll have a mother, 0:03:37.587,0:03:39.041 maybe even a grandmother, 0:03:39.041,0:03:40.927 her daughters and all of their offspring, 0:03:40.927,0:03:43.254 the male and female calves. 0:03:43.254,0:03:44.923 And what's very interesting here 0:03:44.923,0:03:47.466 is that how character makes a difference. 0:03:47.466,0:03:50.467 So each matriarch has a very different character. 0:03:50.467,0:03:52.588 These two characters are kind of curious, 0:03:52.588,0:03:54.389 they're uncertain, 0:03:54.389,0:03:57.726 whereas these other two characters are really agressive. 0:03:57.726,0:04:01.475 "We're going to charge first, ask questions later." 0:04:01.475,0:04:03.928 But then there are also matriarchs that say, 0:04:03.928,0:04:05.678 "Forget it! I'm going to run first 0:04:05.678,0:04:07.307 and then figure it out when we're in the bush 0:04:07.307,0:04:08.520 and it's safe." 0:04:08.520,0:04:10.140 But the wisest matriarch, 0:04:10.140,0:04:12.267 the matriarchs that succeed best 0:04:12.267,0:04:14.604 in all of the studies that have been done, 0:04:14.604,0:04:17.106 is the one that assesses the danger 0:04:17.106,0:04:20.140 and decides is this worth running away from 0:04:20.140,0:04:22.278 or is this not a big deal at all. 0:04:22.278,0:04:25.866 Now being social is super important for elephants 0:04:25.866,0:04:28.116 and of course right at the beginning, 0:04:28.116,0:04:30.036 just like early childhood development, 0:04:30.036,0:04:32.165 socialization is very important. 0:04:32.165,0:04:35.001 Bathing together, eating together, playing together, 0:04:35.001,0:04:37.502 rough housing, this is all very important 0:04:37.502,0:04:39.057 for social development. 0:04:39.057,0:04:40.807 And who hasn't tried to beat their sibling 0:04:40.807,0:04:44.473 to the head of the line coming into the water hole? 0:04:44.473,0:04:48.389 And these relationships from the beginning 0:04:48.389,0:04:50.558 is just like best friends forever for real. 0:04:50.558,0:04:53.557 These females are going to live together for life. 0:04:53.557,0:04:56.724 Now if it's a male, female they might know each other for life, 0:04:56.724,0:05:00.307 but it's really important to develop those bonds early on. 0:05:00.307,0:05:03.639 Those are the relationships that are going to save you later. 0:05:03.639,0:05:07.224 I'll show you a little schoolyard scenario here. 0:05:07.224,0:05:10.244 Where, I think if you just focus on what's happening here 0:05:10.244,0:05:13.056 you can see that we have the bully, 0:05:13.056,0:05:16.249 he's pulling on the trunk of this baby calf, 0:05:16.249,0:05:18.125 and then we have the diplomat 0:05:18.125,0:05:19.306 who's reaching over and saying, 0:05:19.306,0:05:21.388 "No, don't do that! Stop doing that!" 0:05:21.388,0:05:23.798 And then, of course, we have the bystander. 0:05:23.798,0:05:25.724 And how do you get these three different characters 0:05:25.724,0:05:28.058 within the family? 0:05:28.058,0:05:30.513 It's kind of fascinating to think that elephants 0:05:30.513,0:05:32.266 really are just like us. 0:05:32.266,0:05:34.104 And so I got curious about this 0:05:34.104,0:05:37.605 and I thought, "Well, what if you measure 0:05:37.605,0:05:41.900 the difference in character of a dominant female's calf 0:05:41.900,0:05:44.419 versus a lower-ranking female's calf, 0:05:44.419,0:05:47.364 and see what happens in their growing up." 0:05:47.364,0:05:49.850 And so we started doing this. 0:05:49.850,0:05:51.450 And you can see this little guy with his ears out, 0:05:51.450,0:05:53.326 really charging at you. 0:05:53.326,0:05:55.121 The difference between that character 0:05:55.121,0:05:57.335 and the character who holds back, 0:05:57.335,0:05:59.168 wants to touch mom, 0:05:59.168,0:06:00.835 isn't so certain about what's going on here. 0:06:00.835,0:06:03.672 But the other one's charging ahead all confident. 0:06:03.672,0:06:06.624 Well, we started measuring how far away 0:06:06.624,0:06:09.123 a calf will stray from mom, 0:06:09.123,0:06:10.763 how often do they touch others, 0:06:10.763,0:06:12.624 how often do they initiate play, 0:06:12.624,0:06:16.642 and then look at the dominance of the females, of their mothers. 0:06:16.642,0:06:21.188 And what we found is that socializing with the dominant calves 0:06:21.188,0:06:24.707 actually socialize more significantly more than the lower-ranking calves. 0:06:24.707,0:06:26.903 And what it looks like is 0:06:26.903,0:06:29.863 it's not that the lower-ranking calves don't want to play, 0:06:29.863,0:06:31.616 they're actually not allowed to interact 0:06:31.616,0:06:33.207 with the higher-ranking calves. 0:06:33.207,0:06:36.162 They get swatted away from the dominant females. 0:06:36.162,0:06:38.164 and so this is kind of the downside of, 0:06:38.164,0:06:40.165 okay we are very much like elephants, 0:06:40.165,0:06:42.128 elephants are as much like us, 0:06:42.128,0:06:44.847 but it's kind of for better or for worse 0:06:44.847,0:06:47.268 because I can also see this happening in humans 0:06:47.268,0:06:50.294 and maybe we should take a lesson from that. 0:06:50.294,0:06:51.796 One last thing that we found 0:06:51.796,0:06:54.358 is that the males will be the risk-takers, 0:06:54.358,0:06:55.734 they're more independent 0:06:55.734,0:06:58.694 and they're more likely to spend more time away from mom. 0:06:58.694,0:07:00.905 And that's very true in human societies 0:07:00.905,0:07:03.294 and with other social animals. 0:07:03.294,0:07:04.867 So I hope I've convinced you 0:07:04.867,0:07:07.794 that we have very similar lives to elephants 0:07:07.794,0:07:11.999 and that elephants have very individual, durable 0:07:11.999,0:07:14.252 characters that we've measured across years. 0:07:14.252,0:07:16.251 The bully always tends to be the bully 0:07:16.251,0:07:18.174 unless there's some kind of social upset, 0:07:18.174,0:07:20.544 and he decides he better be a softy 0:07:20.544,0:07:23.678 or else he's not going to gain favor at all. 0:07:23.678,0:07:25.427 And then you have the gentle giants 0:07:25.427,0:07:27.265 that are always going to be gentle. 0:07:27.265,0:07:30.128 The young males really need mentoring from the elders, 0:07:30.128,0:07:33.313 and those gentle giants are very good at doing that, 0:07:33.313,0:07:35.229 soliciting them. 0:07:35.229,0:07:38.151 Leaving family is a really hard things for the males, 0:07:38.151,0:07:42.489 but they survive and they figure out who to hang out with. 0:07:42.489,0:07:45.450 So, just to end here, I just wanted to say that 0:07:45.450,0:07:47.451 since they are so similar to us, 0:07:47.451,0:07:48.710 and have these characters, 0:07:48.710,0:07:50.662 I hope when you see them on TV 0:07:50.662,0:07:53.084 or you go out and you're lucky enough to see them in the wild, 0:07:53.084,0:07:54.546 that maybe you'll think of them 0:07:54.546,0:07:57.605 as individual characters deserving of our attention, 0:07:57.605,0:08:01.111 and also deserving of our protection. Thank you.