Why are the elephants avoid the full moon?

Elephant turns more clever than we imagined. Large-bodied mammals and trunked deliberately come and steal the plants in the plantation when it's really dark night with no moon illuminated.

Scientists team from Anglia Ruskin University conducted research in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania, Africa, and the result shows that the hordes of elephants foraging activity is strongly influenced by the lunar cycle. Elephant attack down to the plantation at the time of the full moon, when the nights are brighter and easier farmers watched their crops.

"Elephants change their hunting behavior to avoid contact with humans," said Rachel Grant, lead investigator who is also professor of animal behavior at Anglia Ruskin University, in Cambridge, England.

As reported by Dailymail, on Monday, July 29, 2013, the research that conducted in five villages in the northern boundary of the national park which is often disturbed a herd of wild elephants. Elephants are often looted plants growing near and in human settlements.

Researchers found that African elephants picked the darkest nights to raid crop fields. (Picture from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/)

Grant said, deliberately chose the elephant as the night time to hunt so hard to detect humans. Elephants have the awareness to avoid bright light during a full moon. This explains the elephants behavior change during the lunar cycle and why they also rarely venturing near the village during the full moon.

She added that some animal species that base their activities on the lunar cycle has a certain internal biological rhythms. This condition allows them to take decisions on local conditions that occurred at that time.

"Many animals change their behavior according to varying levels of light to reduce the risk of predation. Response of this kind is likely evolve during evolution," she said further.

The study, published in the African Journal of Ecology is expected to be useful to help the farmers to protect their livestock and agriculture and the damage caused by hordes of elephants. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILYMAIL | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4306]

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