Originally the musth cycle was thought to only affect Asian elephants and so the word “musth” itself, is derived from an Urdu word. It was used to explain the almost rutting behaviour of a working bull. This time was when these usually hard working animals became completely unmanageable, incredibly aggressive. This is when they would have been chained up and isolated.
It is now known that all mature elephant bulls, regardless of species, will go through this musth cycle. Once a bull reaches his peak physical condition, the musth will kick in, with a boiling over of testosterone. As guides, this is something we have been taught to be incredibly cautious of as these bulls can become incredibly unpredictable.
Differences in species
At first it was not noticed that African bulls came into musth as there are slight differences and signs between the two species. The first was the temporal gland (found between them eye and ear) and it was thought originally that only musth bulls will leak a substance from the gland. This is true for Asiatic elephants, but not with the African. With the African elephants, bulls, cows and even young can leak from the temporal gland. It is a good sign to see that the animal is under stress, whether it be mental or physical stress.
Mating in Asian is very closely tied with the musth cycle. With African elephants though not so much and a cow will breed with a bull even if he is not in musth. However, if a musth bull finds the pair, he will takeover from the original bull, even if he is smaller. Cows do still prefer the musth bulls as it shows they are in great condition.
Signs of musth
As mentioned the temporal gland of a musth bull will leak. Unlike the gland of non-musth bulls though and cows, a musth bulls glands will swell. The secretion stains the side of his face, looking as if it runs under his chin. He’ll often massage the gland with his trunk and also rub up against trees with it. This is not to territorial mark like a cat would, but rather thought to be a relief. Flapping of the ears, even only one at a time, is thought to potentially waft the scent of the gland towards any other elephants in the immediate area.
Usually when an elephant bull urinates, he will un-sheath his penis and urinate backwards between the back legs. This is not the case when a bull is in musth, as he constantly dribbles urine, keeping the penis sheathed. The continual dribbling eventually stains the penis green and soddens the inside of his back legs. This is what causes the strong smell of a musth bull and is the best way to determine if a bull is in musth or not.
Musth bulls will travel long distances looking for females that are ready to breed, going from herd to herd. As they do this, the bulls are known to walk with quite a swagger. He swings he’s head from side to side at times and there is a definite change in his gate. His actions are erratic and he’ll go from a calm relaxed bull to tusking the ground and throwing logs minutes later.
Who’s the boss?
When a bull is in musth, his dominance will not be questioned by another bull that is not in musth. Even if he is older, larger and has more experience, he will back down. Every now and then, two bulls in the same area will come into musth at the same time and this is when things can get interesting. Fights do happen, especially when bulls are evenly matched. These shows of strength is the reason a bull needs to be in his peak physical condition. A bull that may go into musth and not be in his peak, may be killed by a bull that is. A bull that loses a flight may drop out of musth very quickly and it’s been witnessed where bulls will even stop dribbling urine while being chased by the victorious male.
These fights between males are incredible spectacles of both strength and savagery. The two opponents charge each other head on, slamming full force into one another, wrestling with their tusks and trunks. Once a bull realises he is loosing, he may break and run, often being chased by the enraged winner for kilometres, trying to tusk the looser in the rump as they go. In some cases the looser can be killed and there have been cases where both bull’s die of injuries, showing how evenly matched they are.
Age
A young elephant bull will come into his first musth cycle when he is about fifteen years of age. This usually doesn’t last long, as a larger bull, even not in musth will put these young boys in their place. It is only when they reach the age of an about twenty five, that they will be able to start to compete with other bulls for the ladies. When he is in this period, between 25-35, he may spend about two months a year in musth. Between 35-40 though he will be in the prime of his life and some bulls have been known to stay in musth for as much as six months, but this is not common.
After this though, the stress does start to take a toll on the animal and musth itself will be less frequent and the time spent in musth will also shorten.
Safety around them
It’s always difficult to say how one should react around a musth bull as his mood can change so quickly. Usually the younger bulls in musth can be far more aggressive and pushy as they almost feel the need to show off and assert themselves. The larger, older bulls have generally been through all of this by now and just get on with their business. If possible, it is safer and easier just to avoid these larger males, giving them a wide berth where possible.
Always better to be safe than sorry!
