It was during yesterday’s 4:00 newscast that we learned that KeKe, a 39 year-old elephant at the Dallas Zoo, had died.
Aside from the obvious sadness, KeKe’s passing brought to mind a fascinating experience that I will try to share with you. Words, I’m afraid, are inadequate for this one.
Several years ago, I was invited to a lecture at the Kansas City Zoo by Katy Payne. She is an acclaimed researcher of animal communication and has done much of her work with elephants.
Payne discovered that elephants communicate over long distances using extremely low-frequency sounds, similar to whales. Humans can’t hear it.
Payne found a way to record those sounds from wild elephants in Africa. She brought that recording to Kansas City and played it for a group of elephants that had never been in the wild.
One of the calls was an inaudible elephant distress signal. We watched in absolute amazement as the elephants quickly gathered in a defensive circle.
The demonstration continued with other sounds and corresponding behaviors. And by the end of the evening there was not a shred of doubt in the crowd about the intelligence of elephants.
Katy Payne has written about her findings in “Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants.” It’s easy to find online.
If you want to know more about KeKe, it’s a great read.
2 Comments
May 13, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I believe that elephants are unusually sensitive , communicative and family oriented animals. I saw a video of an entire herd trying to save a baby , bogged down in mud.They communicated to each other , worked as a team, one digging, one lifting the calf, more digging from each side,to the point of one of them was down on one hind knee.They are magestic beasts who are so misunderstood.Thank youfor sharing your experience , I think God made a way for all animals to communicate.
May 13, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Also Brian, I will be looking for “Silent Thunder “. KeKe was a great loss , for all of us. Nbc 5 was very compassionate and caring over her death, I hope that Jenny is OK. , I know she must be in the mourning process . They are such loving beasts.