Exorcism for Elephants Trivia Quiz

Answer: Intoxicated

The distinctive physiological state leaves the elephant in tremendous pain and distress, adding 60 to 140 times the testosterone levels that the same elephant has when not undergoing the condition, leading to violence and aggression.

Answer: Male elephants

Elephants of all sub-species undergo musth, given that they are male. It is unclear to scientists if the extremely elevated testosterone levels exhibited by male elephants during this process is the cause or a side effect of the behavior.

Answer: False

Even the most docile and gentle of main elephants becomes increasingly aggressive during musth. Indian elephant caretakers and trainers generally tie the elephant to a large tree until the musth passes. The condition is not well understood specifically because of the dangers that an elephant in musth presents to researchers and caretakers alike.

Answer: Temporin

Temporin is a mixture of proteins, lipids, phenols, cresols, and famesol. The secretions work to warn other male elephants not to approach the animal in musth, as well as attract cows in heat for reproductive purposes.

Answer: A low rumbling sound

The sound is meant to signal to other members of the species that the elephant is aggressive. Younger or smaller males will completely avoid the bull in musth in order to refrain from a fight that will surely cause injury to one of the two. Non-receptive females will also avoid the bull's aggression after hearing the rumble, which can be heard from considerable distances.

Answer: Digging their tusks into the ground

Digging the tusks into the ground can serve to counteract the pain in the sides of their heads while the temporin goes into their mouths and the swelling presses on their eyes, causing an ache akin to a severe human toothache.

Answer: Starvation diet

Starvation greatly reduces the timing of the musth. In order to reduce the animal's suffering, human handlers can sometimes also sedate the aggressive male in order to allow him to sleep and feel less pain during the uncomfortable process.

Answer: Absence of older males

In 1990s South Africa, a herd of juvenile male elephants entered musth prematurely and trampled over 100 rhinoceroses in two separate national parks. When older male elephants were reintroduced into the herd, there were no longer any instances of rhino killings or elephants entering musth at a much earlier age in either national park.

Answer: Dominance and sexual arousal

The reason most scientists believe that musth serves a reproductive purposes is because receptive cows in heat have been known to vocalize back in response to bull elephants' musth rumble, indicating a greater willingness to mate.

Answer: George Orwell

The essay was published in 1936 and was rumored to be auto-biographical. While working as a police officer in Burma, the English narrator is expected by locals to shoot an aggressive elephant undergoing musth. The narrator is very disturbed by what he is forced to do, as well as the animal's slow and painful death.