Female/Female Relationships

The family unit consists of closely related females. The matriarch sets the pace and direction of movement. Since having experienced members is important for the herd's survival, females often live for years past menopause (Estes 1991). Family members have a large amount of tactile contact, often rubbing bodies together and touching one another with their trunks. In the greeting ceremony, an elephant puts the tip of its trunk into another elephant's mouth. In the greeting-intention movement an elephant hold its trunk out to an approaching elephant (Estes 1991). In addition to members of the kin group, elephants also affectionately interact with members of the bond group (Moss 1982).