Spleen: 51 cm. long, 21 cm. wide and 1.2 cm. thick; weight 2,300 gm. Liver: weight 7,085 gm.

Place of capture: 61.45’N and 41°w. Period of captivity: 9th June 1961-14th July 1962. Age: she had the typical skin of a young seal and we judged her to have been born in 1960. Length: 140 cm.

3. ‘Anriette’,female

In addition, the Bremerhaven Zoo acquired two more male Hooded seals, one in 1963 and one in 1964.

REFERENCES Ehlers, K. (1958): Zooerfahrungen mit einer erwachsenen Klappmutze. Orion, 2,151-6. Ehlers, K. (1959): Fang der Klappmutze und ihr Verhalten in den ‘Tiergrotten’ Bremerhaven, Krank- heit und Tod der Klappmiitze. Befunde am toten Tier. Der Zoo! . Garten, 24, (3/4), 177-95. Ehlers, K.: Uber zwei weitere Klappmutzen in den ‘Tiergrotten’ Bremerhaven: Der Zool. Garten (in press). Ehlers, K. : Klappmutzen in deutschen Zoologischen Garten. Frerrnde des Kiilner Zoo (in press). Mohr, E.: Unpaarigkeit der Klappmutze. Sierts, W.: Uber Arbeitsweise und inner Mechanik von ‘Haube’ und Nasenblase der mannlichen Klapp- mutze.

OTHER A N I M A L R E C O R D S

I. Californian Sealion, Zalophus califrnianus. On 1st May 1956 a female specimen died at the age of thirty. She had lived at the Bremer- haven Zoo for twenty-eight years. During this time she gave birth to six young, one of which was premature and four of which were reared successfully. At post-mortem (the animal died of tuberculosis), the animal measured 183.5 cm. long, I I Z cni. in circum- ference and weighed 150’s kg.

REFERENCE Ehlers, K. (1958): Uber die Seelowin, Errmetopius calijornianus, der ‘Tiergrotten’ Bremerhaven. Der Zool. Garten, 23 (1/2), 189-94.

2. Rosy Flamingo, Phoenicopterus r. ruber. When the Bremerhaven Zoo was opened in 1928 (the aquarium was opened in I913), ten Rosy flamingos were placed there. Of these ten birds, three have died but the other seven specimens are alive today. It is virtually certain

that they were three years old when they arrived at Bremerhaven; so if we assume this, the birds are at least thirty-nine years old and have spent thirty-six years in the zoo. 3. Brown Bear, Ursus arctas. A female Brown bear, ‘Betti’, came to the Bremerhaven Zoo when she was three years old and lived there for twenty-eight years and during this time had twenty-nine cubs, nearly all of which were reared. 4. Polar Bear, Thalarctos maritimus. From one pair of Polar bears at Bremerhaven Zoo, six- teen cubs have been produced. All were reared by the female, most of them successfully. The male lives with the female and cubs in the same enclosure.

REFERENCE Ehlers, K. Sorgen mit Eisbarennachwuchs. Der ZOO!. Garten (in press).

OBSERVATIONS ON THE EARLY BEHAVIOUR OF

A Y O U N G AFRICAN ELEPHANT Loxodonta afiicana

by Niels Bolwig University of Ibadan, Zoology

Department, Nigeria

O N 13th December 1963 a small African forest elephant was brought to the University of Ibadan Zoo. It had been picked up by fores- try guards five days earlier and we subse- quently learned that its mother had charged a hunter who shot her in selfdefence. On arrival the elephant was a week old at the most. It still had its navel cord. It was in good condition although thin after five or six days without suitable food. The problems of rearing the elephant have been described elsewhere in this volume (seep. I 52) and this paper d deal only with the animal’s behaviour patterns.

It was remarkable how quickly the small young elephant adapted itself to its new SUT- roundings and became attached to the garage where it slept and the kitchen where its food was prepared. It learned to recognize those looking after it very soon. It liked to suck everything w i t h reach and as a result fre- quently cut its mouth, so care had to be taken

to see that there was nothing sharp or pointed it could put its mouth against. It was frequently seen to suck its trunk and it is possible that this behaviour corresponds to thumb-sucking in primates and has a similar function as a dis- placement activity to satisfy a sucking drive and thereby releasing nervous tension. There was, however, no clear evidence that the animal sucked more than normal after having becn frightened, in the way that deprived primates often do.

Anothcr feature of interest was that the animal sought out narrow spaccs in deep shade. It thm preferred the dark, narrow tool-shed to the spacious garage and it was difficult to prevent it from entering. Very soon it learned where the door was and would spend much time tr)ing to force it open. The kitchen had a similar attraction and it became increasingly difficult to keep it out of there. It particalarly liked to hide under the table. When it was older, it often stood underneath thick foliage.

When its keeper walked with his wheel- barrow, it followed him, keeping close to his left side, preferably in bodily contact with him and his vehicle, in a manner similar to that in which the elephant calf in the wild keeps in close contact with its mother’s limbs, often even w a h n g in between them. This be- haviour undoubtedly has survival value be- cause it prevents the calf from becoming separated from its mother and who also thus protects it against coarse vegetation, the hot sun and the cold, driving showers of rain. When the clephants are at rest the calves stray some distance away, but as soon as they notice their mothers’ large bulk moving ahead, they rush towards her with outstretched trunk, u p ward-curved tail and outspread ears. Our young elephant behaved in a similar way towards motor-cars, although the noise of the engine seemed to frighten it.

On the day of its arrival, the calf was weak in its hind-legs and its walk unsteady, but this was no longer apparent after a few days. It could, from then on, be seen experimenting in walking up and down the kitchen steps, an exercise it found very difficult a t first, but only on a few occasions did it tumble down. After a couple of weeks it was able to walk up and down the steps without difficulty and could even turn when it was halfway up them.

The use of its trunk was more interesting because it obviously had to exercise and learn to use it as primates have to learn to use their hands. It began by handling things with its trunk as if to feel them, and investigating them in a manner not unlike that in which a blind person passes his hand over unfamiliar objects. Very soon this turned into more active at- tempts to grip things and by the end of December it was able to pick up objects, though not very skilfully. It exercised its trunk particularly often on the lid of the dust- bin, as it did on low-hanging branches and on a tap froni which it sometimes was allowed to drink water. It obviomly remembered that the tap could produce water. Early in February it even knew about turning on the tap but until early May it did not know which way to turn it and if the tap was turned off firmly, it did not have sufficient strength to turn it on. Early in Fcbruary it had learned how to con- duct water from the tap along its trunk into its mouth. From the first day it was given water to play with and it would attempt to blow water over its back but apparently did not know how to suck water up into its trunk, keep it there and then blow it over its back. The entire activity consisted of dipping the trunk into the water, probably sucking up a little of it but losing it again and then swiftly swinging the trunk over the head while blowing out a little air in no particular direction. It took it about three months to lcarn this technique, as well as that of throw- ing sand over its back. By that time it was also able to pick up the end of the garden hose, put it into its mouth and drink from it.

Much of the early exercise of the trunk seemed to involve pushing things into the mouth. O n 3rd January, it was seen to pick up leavcs and stuff them into its mouth, suck thein and then spit them out again. From then on it began to put branches from shrubs into its mouth and suck them, often attempting to pull off the leaves. It would also pick fallen hibiscils flowers from the ground and stuff them into its mouth.

Although the lower cheek-teeth erupted as early as 17th December and the upper pair on 2nd January, it did not use them for chewing for a very long time; what it put into its mouth it only sucked before spitting it out

again. This was somewhat surprising as from 5th January it was frequently heard grinding its new teeth. All attempts to persuade the animal to take solid food such as bananas, paw-paw and succulent plants failed. In ths respect it resembled young antelopes which also have well-developed cheek-teeth long before they take solid food. It is interesting to note that all ungulates and primates I have observed seem to investigate objects, especially vegetable matter, by taking them into their mouths, suckmg and, at a later stage, biting and chewing them as well. It seems very likely that they learn what is eatable by doing this. Even at the time of writing (May 1964, the young elephant is unable to digest vegetable matter as can be seen from the undigested grasses and leaves which frequently pass through the alimentary tract.

From the day of its arrival, the calf was very fond of playing with water. Two days after it was brought to Ibadan it was given a plastic bath-tub. It literally plunged head-first into the water, splashing, blowing and drinlung large quantities.

The bath-tub became a major source of pleasure to the animal which from then on splashed with the water and crept into the bath whenever it became too hot until, when the elephant was over five months old, the bath was certainly too small and began to burst at the seams. After each bath, the ele- phant liked to roll on the lawn and frequently came to lie down at the feet of an onlooker as an indication that it liked to be scratched on its flanks and its belly.

The young elephant showed many signs of playfulness and from 17th December, when it was steady enough on its legs, it was often seen chasing chickens, children or visitors about the lawn. Undoubtedly, it enjoyed human company. From 1st January it started to attack in play and the whole pattern of threat, attack and fear, as described by Kiihme (1963) soon developed and became an integral part of most of its play, often very difficult or impossible to distinguish from seriously meant threat actions. An indication that most of the attacks were playful could be observed when it threw a person to the ground. It would kneel down with its head across the person and its mouth and the base of its trunk pressed

against the ground as if pinning an enemy down withits non-existent tusks. After this, it would roll over on its side and indicate it wanted to be scratched. It never rolled on top of a person, although it sometimes happened that it came to rest across his legs, thus unin- tentionally inimobilizing him.

Three methods of attack are used. The least frequent method is for the animal to press forwards with its forehead, then lift its head and trunk upwards, thereby lifting or tipping the opponent over its back. This attack some- times merges into the second type where the animal rushes forwards with up-lifted trunk, bent forward in an S-shaped curve. On con- tact with the opponent, the trunk is bent further backwards, still with the tip pointing forward, and then sideways whde its base is used for pressing or ramming the opponent with forceful jerks. Finally, the trunk grips the opponent firmly and pulls him towards the elephant’s fore-feet ; pressure of the trunk is then directed upwards while the base of the trunk presses downwards with the result that the opponent may lose his balance. During this a strong grip with the mouth may help pin the opponent down whde the fore-feet are used for crushing him.

The third type of attack consists of the animal moving backwards or sideways and past the opponent until its head is on a level with him. Then it suddenly turns and at the same time aims a sideways blow with the trunk. Thereafter, it pushes forward, presses and grips the opponent and completes the attack, as described above.

There is no particular threat posture of the ears and an attack may start with very little warning. Only a last minute lifting of the hcad in preparation for the charge, as described by K h e in older elephants, indicates threat. Ears lifted from the body and an upward- curved tail seem to indicate strong tension and fear. Sideways swinging of the trunk as well as sideways shaking of the head seem to be a threat, but it has not been possible to see any connection between the various trunk move- ments and postures (such as touching the musth gland, the ear, the forehead and the mouth) with any ‘mood’ or with subsequent actions as Kiihme has described in his study of older elephants.

R E F E R E N C E S Kiihnie, W. (1961): Ueobachtungen am afrikani- schen Elefanten, Loxodonta ajricana Blumenbach 1797 in Gefangenschaft. Z$ Tierpsych., 18, 285-96. Kiihme, W. (1963a): Ethology of the African Ele- phant, Lnxodniita ajkirana. Inter. Z o o Yearbook, 4, I I 3 -21. Kuhnie, W. (1963b) : Erganzende Beobachtungen an afrikanischen Elefariten Loxodunta africaiia Blumen- barh 1797, in Freigehege. Z J Tierpsych., 20,66-79.

H A N D - R E A R I N G A N A F R I C A N ELEPHANT

Lox-odotlta &aria by Nirls Boliv(q, D. H. Hill and hf. Philpatt

Zoology Department, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

ON 8th December some forest guards found a small female elephant in the Malege Forest Reserve near Okenduse in Western Nigeria. They brought it to M r Dadi, the Assistant Forestry Conservator in Owo. It was subse- quently learned that a local hunter had been charged by the mother a day or twoearlier and that he had shot her in self defence. Mr Dadi kept the animal for five days at his home tq-- ing to feed it on bananas, some of which it seems to have consumed without any ill- eEects. However, there was no indication that it had been able to digest bananas when it arrived at Ibadan.

In the early morning of the 13th December the animal was put on to a Landrover and driven more than 200 miles to Ibadan where it arrived in the afternoon, very thirsty, sonie- what cut by the ropes that had secured it, but otherwise in a good condition. It was decided to bring it round to the housc of one of the authors (Bolwig) where the garage was turned into a stable with hay on the floor for the animal to sleep on.

Having probably had no food which it could digest for five days the animal was very thin and weighing perhaps less than 100 lb. It could, without difficulty, be lifted down from the car. A further examination showed that it was slightly unsteady on its hind-legs and that the navel cord was still attached. The area around it was slightly inflamed with a small amount of yellow pus. The infected area was washed with some disinfectant and other wounds treated with acriflavin ointment.

Milk was prepared from powdered milk at double-strength and given to the animal, which sucked it from a bottle with a wide polythene tube. It drank 4 pints.

On 14th December, the elephant had 12 pints of milk of normal strength. Buttcr was added to the milk to bring up the fat-content as close as possible to that of natural elephant mdk. Elephant milk is described in the Merck Veterinary Handbook as containing about 17 per cent fat. The following mixture was de- cided on as probably the most suitable:

3 pints water 9 02. milk powder

lb. butter I pinch ofpotassium citrate

This made a total of about 33 pints of milk. As the elephant’s stools were white and very liquid although not offensive in smell, we added to this four tablespoons of kaolin and Q teaspoon of Terramycin (Pfizer Laboratories, USA). The addition of Terraniycin was dis- continued after thrteen days, kaolin after one month .

The keeper, Mr Itang from the University Zoo, who had been in charge of previous un- successful attempts to rear young elephants, was selected as the most suitable person to assist in looking after this animal and do the daily cleaning. He is a very good observer and his previous experience was thought to be useful. A daily record, kept by him, has formed an important basis for much of this report.

S K I N C O N D I T I O N

History arid s y ~ t l p t o t j i s . The elephant had had a persistent skin irritation ever since its arrival on 13th December and throughout the month it continued to rub itself against any available object. The irritation appeared to occur all over the body including, in particular, the withers, tail, head, trunk and all four legs below the knee and hock. O n ~ 3 r d January, yellow, pox-like lesions about I cm. in dia- meter and about I mm. in height were observed developing on the outer and inner surface of the ear-flaps and later around thc ex- ternal orifice of the ear, forehead, trunk, withers, back and eventually limbs, more or less in that order. These lesions later coalesced in sonic cases into flat, yellow pustules which