Male African savanna elephants alter movement during musth, their heightened sexual period. Tracking 25 males (20-52) via GPS, researchers found older males increased their speed and range during musth, traveling twice as fast over 3.5 times larger areas by age 50. Older elephants invest more energy in reproduction, reflected in their movement, detected through a hidden Markov model. This emphasizes the importance of older males, often targets of hunting, for elephant reproduction and informs conservation strategies using bio-logging technologies to protect this keystone species’ reproductive dynamics.
