We saw the EA family on the very first day the project began, but at the time we were only familiarizing ourselves with the elephants so they had not been categorized and named until a year later.
Three Holes appeared in the Amboseli population around 1977, a “floater” who must have lost the rest of her family. She joined Isabel and the IA family, and eventually became their matriarch – a wonderful example of social flexibility.
The LD family has had a very interesting history. It started out as part of the LB family, which was one of the immigrant groups that moved into the central region of Amboseli in the late 1970s.
The PC and PC2 families have had an unusual history. Up until 1982 the PCs were part of the PAs, which was the largest family in the Amboseli population.
The CA family was first recorded on October 10, 1973. At that time the Amboseli Elephant Research Project was just getting started. They had a very distinctive looking matriarch at the time we named Curtain Ear.
The Ds have shown us some of the most interesting family dynamics over the time we have known them, including one female going off with an unrelated female and creating a whole new family unit.
Possibly the most famous elephant ever, Echo led her family from seven members at the start of the study, to a flourishing 37 at the time of her death in 2009. She remains an Amboseli icon.
The GB family split into two parts, but since the time of writing these two parts have rejoined one another. This rejoin was precipitated by the loss of two big females, Gladys and Gwen in 2009, and is the first time we have ever documented this kind of flexibility.
The HBs are a good example of how important leadership skills and knowledge among females are in contributing to a family's success. Over the years they have had some incredible leadership in Horatia and Hazel, leading to the gradual growth of this family. We predict the HBs will go on to be one of the biggest families in the Amboseli population.
The LC family is another family with a somewhat unusual history. The members originally belonged to the LA family when Cynthia first got to know them back in 1975.
The MAs were a difficult family to work out early in the study, because they were so closely bonded to the WA family. This friendship has now lasted thirty years.
The OBs were one of the last families to be recorded in the early years of our research. It was not until the 1980s that this small family was identified, having migrated from the East into Amboseli.
Qumquat became a tragic Amboseli icon in October 2012, when she and her two daughters were slaughtered by poachers. The QBs have had their fair share of tribulations: here is their story up to August 2012.
“Elephants form deep bonds with each other, which last for decades. Elephant survival is strongly affected by access to the social and ecological knowledge that older elephants hold; where to go, what to eat, how to avoid danger.” - Dr. Cynthia Moss