Elephants are social animals with strong family ties. So close are the relationships that they even bury their dead with twigs and leaves. They also grieve over their loss, staying by the grave for many hours. Females and their calves live in family units under the leadership of a mature female, to whom every other member of the group is related. Young males are driven from the family when they reach puberty to live in separate bachelor herds.
Adult males live alone and join a family unit only briefly when a female is ready to mate.
Herds may wander great distances, but they never move far from water. Elephants like baths every evening, so they stay close to any available pool or stream. They will make do with a shower if water is scarce. After bathing they coat their skin in dirt for protection from insects. When elephants are foraging for food out of sight of one another, they communicate by making rumbling noises similar to gargling.