Robbie Wilson interviews David Jachowski on his work "Unravelling complex associations between physiological state and movement in African elephants."
Understanding animal movements involves a complex association of factors.  In addition to anatomical constraints and factors like the surrounding environment, more cryptic factors can play a role-- such as an animal's internal, physiological state, or navigational capacity.  Complex movement models have been constructed in an attempt to infer an animal's internal state based on movement behaviours, but direct studies of the effect of an individual’s internal state on movement behaviour have been lacking. 
African elephants are known to alter their behaviour in response to their physiological state, with elevated stress hormone concentrations being associated with reclusive behaviour and aggression towards humans. A better understanding of the link between internal, physiological state and the use of space in relation to the proximity of environmental features and refugia is important in mitigating human-elephant conflict. 
Read the lay summary here: http://bit.ly/11KoGeb
Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/126B33e


FE: Unravelling associations between body state and movement in African elephantsDavidJochowski

Podcasts from the British Ecological Society