Do elephants learn various vocalizations from their families or are they intrinsically known?
Though we don’t really know, it seems as if babies are born with an instinctive ability to produce certain sounds such as how to cry out in distress or rumble for milk. Certain calls that come with a level of “responsibility” seem to be used only by older elephants. It seems possible that as juveniles mature they learn how and when to use these calls by listening to their context and usage by older animals. We also know that males “unlearn” to use certain calls. It may be that some of the calls that they used as family members gradually become “uncool” to use as they grow and enter the world of males.
