by Why Elephants Climbed On Top Of A Vehicle During Mating Season Under Vet’s Explaning
An elephant that had escaped from a Thai national park climbed on top of a vehicle during ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ season and crushed it. The vehicle was traveling through the Khao Yai National Park in Thailand, near Bangkok, on the way to nearby National Children’s Day celebrations.
However, the driver was compelled to stop when the male elephant wandered out into the middle of the road and approached his car. The silver car was making its way through the Khao Yai National Park when an elephant approached the vehicle and tried to sit on it.
Footage shows the elephant putting its front legs on the vehicle before bringing up its hind legs and standing on the bonnet. After a few seconds, the elephant then appears to jump off the car leaving the front of the vehicle badly dented and with a cracked windscreen.
Before climbing on top of the car, the elephant approached the vehicle after wandering out into the middle of the road. The animal appeared to rest its trunk on the bonnet before going on to stand on top of the car. Vets believe the elephant may have been stressed due to ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ season. Fortunately, the passengers in the vehicle were unharmed. On New Year’s Day, one elephant damaged another three vehicles. It is uncertain if the same elephant was involved in both incidents.
According to the National, an elephant does not usually come near cars, but this one may be worried by ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ season. An elephant also damaged three cars within the same national park, although vets are unsure if it was the same creature. The elephants may be under strain during the ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ season. The movement of vehicles might have added to the tension. When female elephants reach sᴇxᴜᴀʟ maturity, they are generally kicked out of their herd, so they do not ᴍᴀᴛᴇ with family members. This is why the elephant has escaped, and drivers going through the park have been warned to be more cautious.
How are elephant ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ?
Female elephants come into ᴇsᴛʀᴜs (heat), marking ovulation and the ability to get pregnant, for only a few days each year. Because the ᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ season is short, mature female elephants are never far from adult males. The scent of a female elephant in ᴇsᴛʀᴜs attracts male bulls. A receptive female will hold her head high, producing a low, rumbling invitation as she leaves her group and runs quickly across the plains chased by the bulls. It appears she actually chooses her ᴍᴀᴛᴇ, for she seldom stops for a young bull but slows down for a larger, dominant male who, once she allows him to catch her, gently rests his trunk across her back in a caress. They may ᴍᴀᴛᴇ several times, and he may stay with her until the end of her ᴇsᴛʀᴜs, warding off other bulls and fighting if necessary. She may, however, ᴍᴀᴛᴇ with others. Because males play no part in raising the young and are not needed to protect the mother or baby, their role appears to be purely reproductive.
At the end of ᴇsᴛʀᴜs, the cow returns to her group and the male goes off in search of another ᴍᴀᴛᴇ. The gestation period of female elephants lasts for 22 months, longer than any other animal; pregnancies are spaced from three to nine years apart. There is usually only one offspring, but twin births do occur and both calves may survive under favorable conditions. There is much excitement in the group during a birth, and another female almost always tends to the birthing mother. An adult female and her sᴇxᴜᴀʟly immature offspring are a “family unit” within the group. However, females assist each other in raising the young, with one mother even sometimes nursing the calf of another. In general, females reach sᴇxᴜᴀʟ maturity between the age of 12 to 15 years and, over the course of 60 years, will bear from five to 15 offspring.
