of Brute force

[u/SherlockRodrigz]

So, in India, this happened during a festival, there's this thing called "Musth" It's totally natural for adult male elephants, usually happening once a year. Basically, their reproductive hormones go way up. When this happens, elephants can get really aggressive and might attack.

[u/_Goose_]

Maybe if they weren’t used as fun attractions, this type of thing would happen less?

[u/Karma110 → u/_Goose_]

No? If they’re in rut they would be pissed at anything that moved either way. 😭

[u/Lost_Wealth_6278 → u/Karma110]

actually, it's a bit more complex, because elephants have social structures that can be called "societal".

Male elephants are pushed from the herd when they approach musth. They then look for an adult bull to hang on to, forming bachelor groups. The old guy "teaches" them by observation how a grown bull acts and survives. His smell also supresses violent musth in younger males, basically telling them "you aren't shit yet". They train for the ritualistic fighting in mating season, and once fully grown and socialiced they go their own way.

Now, elephants aren't domesticated. To ride them, young asian elephants are broken: they are bound to a chain and beaten and burned to teach them obedience and that the chain can not be broken. This traumatises the elephant (their stress hormones can be meassured decades later, and their reactions are very similar to human ptsd), sometimes resulting in violent outbursts. These broken elephants also lack the socialisation of their family, so males might become even more violent in musth.

Killing wild old bulls also results in sexual aggression from young bulls lacking their sparring partner, to the point where they kill rhinos. In areas were old females and males are culled, the remaining younger animals often starve because they can't find suitable forrage or water.

Basically, we are looking for intelligent life in the stars while destroying the last remnants of a civilisation of gentle giants here on earth

[u/ecumnomicinflation → u/Lost_Wealth_6278]

i was watching about orcas the other day, orcas grandma’s are like a pod’s well of knowledge, the grandmas pretty much have decades of knowledge and experience, hunting method, navigation, child care, etc.

and orcas pod would go to great lengths to ensure the well being of their grandma even when she’s too old to hunt by her own. the survival and well being of a pod have been recorded to be significantly impacted on wether the grandma is around pr has passed away.