What's with the elephant?

I've always had a soft spot for African wildlife, particularly elephants. But after a year in the African bush, waking regularly to the sound of elephants breathing outside my tent, and the unmistakeable cracking of trees being ripped apart for their bark, my love affair for these majestic animals was confirmed.

Elephants are great to watch. Find a family herd and you'll be able to see a whole host of activities and lively communications between different members of the complex social group. Elephants have a wide range of communication techniques at their command. Strange ultrasonic stomach rumbles communicate with other animals several kilometres away. Air blown through trunks creates circus-like trumpet sounds, or porcine squeals and squeaks. And different head, neck, ear or trunk positions send out a range of different physical signals.

The posture shown here is known as 'standing tall'. It's a dominance display to show how impressive the elephant is, and ward off unwanted competitors. So, I guess I've chosen this image as some sort of elephant voodoo talisman to demonstrate how utterly accomplished I am and to stop others from getting the projects I'm after.

But more fundamentally, I've chosen it as a symbol of great communication and a successful example of tailoring your communication approach to the outcome you want to achieve.

If you want to know more about elephant communication, or elephants in general, why not visit the website I developed for Letaba Elephant Hall in Kruger National Park?