What kind of reproduction takes place in elephants?
Answers
The courtship between a male and a female elephant is short lived. They will rub their bodies on each other and even wrap trunks. The females tend to run away from the males and he will have to pursue her. This game of cat and mouse can continue for a very long time before the actual mating does occur.
The male elephants will fan their ears more when they are ready to mate than at other times. This allows them to get their scent out there at a wider distance than before and to attract females that can become potential mates. The older males that are from 40 to 50 years of age are the most likely to breed with the females. The females are ready to breed when they are about 14 years of age.
There is plenty of aggression among the males for the rights to mate. The younger ones though are usually no match for the strength of the older elephants which is why they don’t get to mate until they are much older. This is a fact though that tends to make it harder to increase the numbers of elephants out there.