Eavesdropping On Forest Elephants; Free Lecture At Peabody Museum

NEW HAVEN — African forest elephants live in dense equatorial forests where they are rarely seen and impossible to census by standard methods. In the Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, the Elephant Listening Project is creating an acoustic monitoring system that uses elephant vocal patterns as indicators of the size, composition and reproductive health of populations in the beautiful Dzanga forest region of the Central African Republic.

On Thursday, May 19, the Yale-Peabody Museum of Natural History will offer a lecture, “Eavesdropping on Forest Elephants,” by Katy Payne, the leader of the Elephant Listening Project.

The lecture, illustrated with sound and video, will present the project’s innovative methodology, some of its early results, and a few captivating stories about elephant behavior. It is a complement to the museum’s current exhibition, “Elephants!” Ms Payne’s lecture will begin at 4 pm, and is free.

Call 203-432-5050 for details.