Age‐based variation in calf independence, social behavior and play in a captive population of African elephant calves

African elephant calves are highly social and their behavioral development depends heavily on interactions with other elephants. Evaluating early social behaviors offers important information that can inform management decisions and maximize individual‐ and population‐level welfare. We use data collected from the population of elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA to evaluate developmental trajectories of spatial independence and social behavior in nine elephant calves across a range of ages. As calves aged, the probability of being further from mothers also increased. Tactile interactions were common among calves, with all individuals either initiating or receiving physical touches from other elephants in a large proportion of focal scans. While the probability of initiating tactile interactions tended to decline with increases in calf age, the probability of receiving tactile interactions from other elephants remained invariant with regard to this variable. The social play was also common, occurring in a fifth of all focal scans. While there was evidence that social play tended to decline with increases in calf age, results suggest additional factors may be useful in characterizing patterns in play behavior at the individual level. Calves most frequently engaged in play with individuals of similar age but showed substantial variation in play partner choice. Results of this study suggest that maintaining groups of elephants in captivity with diverse age structure positively contribute to their healthy social development. A cross‐sectional study of a captive population of African elephant calves ranging in age from 5 months to 7 years revealed age‐related trends in maternal independence, tactile interactions, and social play. Icons from freevector.com and vecteezy.com Highlights 1. Cross‐sectional study of a large population of captive African elephant calves showed significant age‐related changes in indicators of maternal independence and social development. 2. Interactions with other elephants of diverse age classes, including social touch and play, are highly relevant across early developmental stages and likely promote prosocial behavior and elephant welfare in captive settings.