A study in Africa has found that elephant families headed by the oldest and largest female have a greater ability to survive in the wild and bear new young. Age is good, if you're an elephant matriarch. Researchers studying elephant families in Kenya's Amboseli National Park have shown for the first time that the older an elephant matriarch is, the more finely honed are her social skills, and that this knowledge is statistically tied to the reproductive success of her family's younger members.
African elephants are the largest land mammal.
Photograph from Corbis bolded. The study, published April 20 in the journal Science, has implications for other large, long-lived mammals, including whales, dolphins, and chimpanzees, says lead author Karen McComb. By targeting the oldest and largest animals, hunters are likely having a disproportionate effect on the overall welfare of these populations. The elephants in the Amboseli park provided the researchers, who also included Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in 1972, and Sarah Durant at the London Institute of Zoology, with an ideal study population. Elephant populations in Africa have declined dramatically over the last several decades as the result of illegal hunting for their ivory.