Elephants say 'hello' to friends by flapping their ears and making little rumbly noises

Two elephant calves touching trunks.

When elephants reunite with friends, they greet each other with ear flaps, rumbles and other deliberate sounds and gestures, new research shows.

The study, which was published May 9 in the journal Communications Biology, suggests that elephants are communicating intentionally and that they tailor their greeting depending on what other elephants are doing. For example, when another elephant was already paying attention, elephants were more likely to use visual gestures; otherwise, they were more likely to use touch.