Tusker behaviour during locating the female in heat

[Debasis Bose]

Nikon D7000, Sigma 150-500, 500@f/11, exposure 1/1600s, ISO 640. Caught the tusker at the right time while he was trying to locate the female in heat by targeting the source of infrasonic sound emanated by her.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice you got to witness and capture this natural history behaviour. A slight off-centered composition would have been good. Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice to see this tall, healthy young-adult tusker of Corbett raising its head, flapping ears, placing tail vertically and scenting on the edge of the forest road. It looks like there may be some vocalisation, some sound produced by tusk. Mature, cautious response, I think. It may be another tusker, not the (ones) belonging to, or associated with the herd. Nice capture. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Correction: Second line may kindly be read as:

"....., some sound produced in the trunk. (instead of 'by tusk')....."
I sincerely regret for the mistake.
SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Infrasonic sounds can be heard over several kilometers as the longer wavelengths can traverse around obstacles. The elephant doesn't need to raise its trunk to detect infrasonic vocalisations. Female elephants pass on information about their oestrus status through urine. Most of the times male elephants place their trunk on the female elephants glands to smell and assess the oestrus condition. Other female elephants also do so.

This tusker appears to have raised its trunk to smell the presence of something ahead. It can also be another intruder in its territory, other animals or even people. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi