The family structure of elephants - Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell

Struktura porodice kod slonova - Kejtlin O'Konel-Rodvel (Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell)

Prevodilac: Miloš Milosavljević Lektor: Mile Živković

If I were to distill the 20 years of elephant research

Ako bi trebalo da sažmem 20 godina

that I've done

svog proučavanja slonova

into one sentence,

u jednu rečenicu,

what would it be?

kako bi to izgledalo?

What could I tell you?

Šta bih mogla da vam kažem?

I would say that elephants are just like us!

Rekla bih da su slonovi baš kao i mi!

And what do I mean by that?

Šta pod time mislim?

It takes a lot of patience

Potrebno je dosta strpljenja

to be out there in the field

da se bude na terenu

and trying to figure out patterns

i da se shvate navike

of these very slow and intelligent animals.

ovih veoma sporih i inteligentnih životinja.

But over time, it is true they are very similar to us.

Ali posle nekog vremena, vidite da su nam vrlo slični.

And you think, "Well, how can I say that?

I mislite: "Kako to mogu da kažem?

Look, they have huge ears,

Pogledajte, oni imaju velike uši,

they have really long noses.

imaju dugačke noseve.

What do you mean they're like us?"

Kako to mislite da su kao mi?"

Well, in fact, their families are very similar to ours.

U stvari, njihove porodice su vrlo slične našim.

And family is extremely important to elephants.

A porodica je izuzetno važna slonovima.

They grow up in very tight-knit families

Oni odrastaju u čvrsto vezanim porodicama

and they have extended families.

i one su velike.

And it's just like our family reunions

Isto je kao na našim porodičnim skupovima,

where you have all the aunts gathering around

gde se sve tetke okupljaju

with all the food they're going to bring and plan,

sa svom hranom koju će da donesu, i planiraju,

and all the boys are thinking,

a svi dečaci razmišljaju:

"Are we going to play our video games together?

"Hoćemo li da igramo igrice?

Are we going to spar?"

Hoćemo li da se bijemo?"

It's very, very similar,

Vrlo je slično

and it's jubilant, and screaming, yelling, it's really amazing to see.

i veselo, sa vriskom i cikom. Neverovatno je videti to.

But, as soon as you get that family gathering,

Ali čim imate porodično okupljanje,

it's just like a wedding or anything else,

kao i na svadbi ili nečem sličnom,

all of the sudden the family politics come out,

odjednom iskrsne porodična politika

and the lower-ranking individuals in this scene,

i pojedinci sa nižim statusom na ovoj sceni

you see the arrow off to the back,

ispaljuju strele iz pozadine,

the lower-ranking individuals already know their station,

pojedinci sa nižim statusom već znaju svoju stanicu,

they're going to drink at the muddiest part of the pan

oni će da piju na najblatnjavijem delu bare

because the whole family's here and we can't drink at the best water

jer tu je cela porodica i ne mogu piti najbolju vodu

because that's reserved for the top-ranking family.

jer je ona rezervisana za članove sa višim statusom.

What's also very similar

Ono što je takođe vrlo slično

is that you have elders in the group

je to što u grupi imate stare

that everyone reveres.

koje svi poštuju.

This is the matriarch,

Ovo je matrijarh

and the other female is reaching over

i druga ženka dolazi

and doing what's called a trunk to mouth

i radi nešto što se zove "surla na usta".

placing her trunk in the mouth,

Stavlja svoju surlu u usta

and it's a sign of respect,

i to je znak poštovanja,

it's kind of like a handshake,

kao rukovanje,

but it's also like a salute.

ali takođe je i kao pozdrav.

And this salute is learned at a very young age.

Ovaj pozdrav se uči u ranom uzrastu.

Now, ritual and bonding within the family

Ritual i vezivanje u okviru porodice

also facilitates coordinated activities.

takođe olakšavaju usklađene aktivnosti.

So, here's a young female whose calf has fallen into the trough

Ovde imamo mladu ženku čije je mladunče upalo u jarak

and she doesn't know what to do and she panics.

i ona ne zna šta da radi, i paniči.

Well, the older female, that's the matriarch,

Starija ženka, matrijarh, kaže:

she says, "No problem here," she just scoops the baby out.

"Nema problema" i izvadi bebu.

Now, that's not true for a lot of different families,

U mnogim drugim porodicama nije ovako.

they can't coordinate very well,

One ne mogu dobro da se usklade,

the younger females don't really know what to do,

mlađe ženke ne znaju šta da rade,

but the older ones will just get down,

ali starije se samo sagnu,

kneel down together and pick the baby out.

kleknu i izvade bebu.

Another thing that's very similar

Ono što je još vrlo slično

is the coming of age of teenage boys.

je punoletstvo tinejdžera.

Male elephants at the age of about 12 to 15.

Slonova mužjaka uzrasta 12 do 15 godina.

The biggest elephant in this photograph here

Najveći slon na ovoj fotografiji

is an elephant who's about the leave the family.

je slon koji treba da napusti porodicu.

He gets too big, he gets a little fresh,

Postao je suviše veliki,

the adult females had enough of him,

odraslim ženkama se smučio,

but he also is independent,

ali je takođe i nezavisan.

he wants to go out and play with the guys.

Želi da ode i da se igra s momcima.

So what happens then is that you have this all male society,

I onda imate ovo muško društvo,

very ritual male society.

puno rituala.

Greg is our main dominant bull here,

Greg je naš dominantni mužjak ovde.

you can see him in the middle.

On je u sredini.

He's got a huge posse, his following reveres him.

On ima veliku grupu koja ga poštuje.

And it's very interesting how very good leaders,

I zanimljivo je kako veoma dobre vođe,

very good dominant individuals

vrlo dobri dominantni pojedinci

know how to titrate the carrot and the stick.

znaju kako da zamene šargarepu sa štapom.

This guy's a master at it,

Ovaj je majstor u tome,

and there's other bullies out there

i postoje druge siledžije

that want to kind of want to create their own little following,

koje žele da naprave svoju malu grupu,

but they can't do it because they're too agressive.

ali ne mogu jer su suviše agresivni.

And so when he's not around

I tako, kad on nije u blizini,

they try and sweet talk the underlings to come into their fold,

oni pokušavaju da ubede potčinjene da se priklone njima

and they actually become less agressive.

i postaju manje agresivni.

So it's very interesting to see how politics play out

Vrlo je zanimljivo videti kako politika igra ulogu

in these male and female societies.

u ovim muškim i ženskim društvima.

Now back to the ladies here.

A sada, da se vratimo damama.

In a core family group you'll have a mother,

U srcu porodice imate majku,

maybe even a grandmother,

možda čak i baku,

her daughters and all of their offspring,

njene ćerke, i svo njihovo potomstvo,

the male and female calves.

muške i ženske mladunce.

And what's very interesting here

Ono što je ovde zanimljivo

is that how character makes a difference.

je uloga i značaj karaktera.

So each matriarch has a very different character.

Svaki matrijarh ima različit karakter.

These two characters are kind of curious,

Ova dva karaktera su zanimljiva,

they're uncertain,

one su nesigurne,

whereas these other two characters are really agressive.

dok su ove dve druge agresivne.

"We're going to charge first, ask questions later."

"Prvo ćemo da napadamo, a onda da postavljamo pitanja."

But then there are also matriarchs that say,

Onda ima matrijarha koje kažu:

"Forget it! I'm going to run first

"Zaboravi! Prvo ću da bežim,

and then figure it out when we're in the bush

a onda da razmišljam kad budemo u grmlju, na sigurnom."

and it's safe."

But the wisest matriarch,

Ali najmudriji matrijarh,

the matriarchs that succeed best

ona koja ima najviše uspeha

in all of the studies that have been done,

po svim istraživanjima,

is the one that assesses the danger

je ona koja procenjuje opasnost

and decides is this worth running away from

i odlučuje da li vredi bežati

or is this not a big deal at all.

ili nije toliko opasno.

Now being social is super important for elephants

Biti društven je mnogo važno slonovima

and of course right at the beginning,

i naravno, na početku,

just like early childhood development,

kao i u ranom detinjstvu,

socialization is very important.

socijalizacija je vrlo važna.

Bathing together, eating together, playing together,

Zajedničko kupanje, zajedničko jelo, igranje,

rough housing, this is all very important

rvanje, sve je to veoma važno

for social development.

za društveni razvoj.

And who hasn't tried to beat their sibling

A ko nije pokušao da se trka sa braćom

to the head of the line coming into the water hole?

na putu ka pojilu?

And these relationships from the beginning

I iz ovih prijateljstava od ranog uzrasta

is just like best friends forever for real.

postanu pravi najbolji prijatelji.

These females are going to live together for life.

Ove ženke će živeti zajedno celog života.

Now if it's a male, female they might know each other for life,

A ako je u pitanju mužjak, ženke mogu da se poznaju celog života,

but it's really important to develop those bonds early on.

ali je zaista važno rano razviti ove veze.

Those are the relationships that are going to save you later.

To su veze koje će vas sačuvati kasnije.

I'll show you a little schoolyard scenario here.

Pokazaću vam mali školski scenario.

Where, I think if you just focus on what's happening here

Ako pogledate šta se dešava ovde,

you can see that we have the bully,

videćete siledžiju

he's pulling on the trunk of this baby calf,

koji vuče surlu ovog mladunca,

and then we have the diplomat

i imamo diplomatu

who's reaching over and saying,

koji prilazi i kaže:

"No, don't do that! Stop doing that!"

"Nemoj to da radiš! Prestani!"

And then, of course, we have the bystander.

I naravno, imamo posmatrača.

And how do you get these three different characters

Kako dobijete ova tri različita karaktera

within the family?

u okviru porodice?

It's kind of fascinating to think that elephants

Fascinantno je kako su slonovi

really are just like us.

zaista kao mi.

And so I got curious about this

Ovo me je zainteresovalo

and I thought, "Well, what if you measure

i pomislila sam: "Šta ako mérite

the difference in character of a dominant female's calf

razliku između karaktera mladunčeta dominantne ženke

versus a lower-ranking female's calf,

i mladunčeta ženke nižeg statusa,

and see what happens in their growing up."

i pogledate šta se dešava tokom njihovog odrastanja."

And so we started doing this.

I tako smo počeli to da radimo.

And you can see this little guy with his ears out,

Vidite ovog mališana sa raširenim ušima

really charging at you.

koji vas napada.

The difference between that character

Razliku između tog karaktera

and the character who holds back,

i onog koji se povlači,

wants to touch mom,

želi da dodirne majku

isn't so certain about what's going on here.

i nije siguran šta se tu dešava.

But the other one's charging ahead all confident.

Ali onaj drugi ide napred sa samopouzdanjem.

Well, we started measuring how far away

Počeli smo da posmatramo koliko daleko

a calf will stray from mom,

će mladunče odlutati od majke,

how often do they touch others,

koliko često se dodiruju,

how often do they initiate play,

koliko često započinju igru

and then look at the dominance of the females, of their mothers.

i posmatrali smo dominaciju ženki, njihovih majki.

And what we found is that socializing with the dominant calves

Otkrili smo da se dominantni mladunci

actually socialize more significantly more than the lower-ranking calves.

bolje socijalizuju nego mladunci nižeg statusa.

And what it looks like is

I izgleda da se ne radi o tome

it's not that the lower-ranking calves don't want to play,

da mladunci nižeg statusa ne vole da se igraju,

they're actually not allowed to interact

već im nije dozvoljeno da uspostave kontakt

with the higher-ranking calves.

sa mladuncima višeg statusa.

They get swatted away from the dominant females.

Dominantne ženke ih gnječe

and so this is kind of the downside of,

i ovo je loša strana,

okay we are very much like elephants,

okej, ličimo na slonove,

elephants are as much like us,

oni liče na nas,

but it's kind of for better or for worse

u dobrom i lošem

because I can also see this happening in humans

jer takođe ovo isto vidim i kod ljudi

and maybe we should take a lesson from that.

i možda bi trebalo da naučimo nešto iz toga.

One last thing that we found

Poslednja stvar koju smo otkrili

is that the males will be the risk-takers,

je da mužjaci rizikuju,

they're more independent

nezavisniji su

and they're more likely to spend more time away from mom.

i uglavnom provode više vremena van majčine blizine.

And that's very true in human societies

I to je isto i u ljudskim društvima,

and with other social animals.

kao i kod drugih društvenih životinja.

So I hope I've convinced you

Nadam se da sam vas uverila

that we have very similar lives to elephants

da živimo slično kao slonovi

and that elephants have very individual, durable

i da slonovi imaju vrlo individualne, trajne osobine

characters that we've measured across years.

koje smo posmatrali tokom godina.

The bully always tends to be the bully

Siledžija uvek teži da bude siledžija,

unless there's some kind of social upset,

osim ako se desi neka društvena promena

and he decides he better be a softy

i on odluči da je bolje da bude blag

or else he's not going to gain favor at all.

jer u suprotnom neće imati koristi.

And then you have the gentle giants

I imate nežne džinove

that are always going to be gentle.

koji će uvek biti nežni.

The young males really need mentoring from the elders,

Mladim mužjacima treba mentorstvo starijih

and those gentle giants are very good at doing that,

i ovi nežni džinovi su vrlo dobri

soliciting them.

u tome.

Leaving family is a really hard things for the males,

Napuštanje porodice je veoma teško za mužjake,

but they survive and they figure out who to hang out with.

ali prežive i nalaze načina da se izbore s tim.

So, just to end here, I just wanted to say that

I za kraj, samo bih htela još da kažem

since they are so similar to us,

da pošto su nam tako slični

and have these characters,

i imaju te osobine,

I hope when you see them on TV

nadam se da ćete kada ih vidite na televiziji

or you go out and you're lucky enough to see them in the wild,

ili, ako imate sreće, u prirodi,

that maybe you'll think of them

možda misliti o njima

as individual characters deserving of our attention,

kao o posebnim karakterima koji zaslužuju našu pažnju

and also deserving of our protection. Thank you.

i našu zaštitu. Hvala vam.