Old males, on the other hand, were seen as solitary loners whose social contribution ended at breeding. New evidence suggests that male elephants do have social lives, and that older males may act as leaders for younger ones. When females rejected the adolescents’ advances, the young males took their aggression out on white rhinos, killing more than 40. Seeking a solution, researchers introduced six older male elephants to the park. The younger males’ musth subsided, and the rhino killing stopped.

Source: New York Times September 04, 2020 21:33 UTC