Professor Phyllis Lee is the director of science for the Amboseli Elephant Research Project, which was started in 1972 by Cynthia Moss and is the longest running study of wild elephants anywhere in the world. Phyllis has been carrying out field research on animal behavior since 1975 and has been studying the elephants of Amboseli since1982. She has collaborated with a number of researchers working on forest and Asian elephants as well as primates from around the world and she is the author of over 80 journal publications. In this episode we speak about what has been learned through this long-term study of individual wild elephants and what is still unknown. We speak extensively about the wide range of behaviors elephants engage in that highlights the unique personalities of each individual animal. We also speak about the different modalities of elephant communication, the dynamics of elephant social structure, the phenomena of “Musth” in bull elephants, and the challenges mother elephants face raising their young in the wilderness of Kenya. 

Links for Episode

Amboseli Elephant Trust

Professor Phyllis Lee 

Collaring Wild Elephants 

Wildlife Warriors Episode (Amboseli Elephants)

Rescuing Baby Elephant Stuck in Mud