The researchers chose five villages near the wildlife area and counted how many times elephants raided crops. They found that few of elephant “raid nights” took place during a full moon. The amount of crop damage also fell considerably during such periods.
Rachel Grant says some elephants have what she calls “an internally arising biological rhythm” or they may be basing their decision-making on local conditions. In her words, “Many animals alter their behavior according to varying light levels and the perceived risk of predation.” She says this rhythm is likely to be a partly evolved, partly learned response.
Ms. Grant says the behavior probably is found in elephant populations in countries other than Tanzania. She adds that information from the study could be used to protect farms from elephant damage.
This Science in the News program was written by Madeline Smith and Jerilyn Watson. I’m June Simms.
And I’m Bob Doughty. You can comment on this show at learningenglish.voanews.com. And you can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes at VOA Learning English. Listen again next week for more news about science on the Voice of America.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25