Distinguish from must.

Temporin secretion during musth

An Asian Elephant bull chained during musth. Note the discharge from the temporal glands.

Musth or must ( /ˈmʌst/) is a periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized by highly aggressive behavior, accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones – testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth, or merely a contributing factor, is unknown; scientific investigation of musth is problematic because during musth even elephants that are otherwise placid may try to kill humans.

Cause and effects[link]

Although it has often been speculated by zoo visitors^[1] that musth is linked to rut, it is unlikely there is a biological connection because the female elephant's estrus cycle is not seasonally-linked, whereas musth most often takes place in winter. Furthermore, bulls in musth have often been known to attack female elephants, regardless of whether or not the females are in heat. There has been speculation that there may be a connection between musth and dominance behaviour.

Often, elephants in musth discharge a thick tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts on the sides of the head. Temporin contains proteins, lipids (notably cholesterol), phenol and 4-methyl phenol^[2][3], cresols and sesquiterpenes (notably farnesol and its derivatives).^[4] Secretions and urine collected from zoo elephants have been shown to contain elevated levels of various highly odorous ketones and aldehydes. The elephant's aggression may be partially caused by a reaction to the temporin, which naturally trickles down into the elephant's mouth. Another contributing factor may be the accompanying swelling of the temporal glands; this presses on the elephant's eyes and causes acute pain comparable to severe root abscess toothache. Elephants sometimes try to counteract this pain by digging their tusks into the ground.

An African elephant chases a giraffe during musth.

Musth is linked to sexual arousal or establishing dominance, but this relationship is far from clear. Cases of elephants goring and killing rhinoceroses in national parks in Africa have been documented and attributed to musth in young male elephants, especially those growing in the absence of older males. Studies show that reintroducing older males into the elephant population of the area seems to prevent younger males from entering musth, and therefore, stop this aggressive behavior.^[5][6]

In domesticated elephants[link]

An elephant on musth trying to break its chain

A musth elephant, wild or domesticated, is extremely dangerous to humans. In zoos, musth has been the cause of incidents in which elephant keepers have been killed. Zoos keeping adult male elephants need extremely secure enclosures, which greatly complicates the attempts to breed elephants in zoos.

Domesticated elephants on musth in India are traditionally tied to a strong tree, or two strong trees, and denied food and water, or put on a starvation diet, for several days, after which the musth passes. Mahouts are often able to greatly shorten the duration of their elephants' musth, typically to five to eight days; xylazine is also used.

Another method is to chain the elephant separately for nearly a month and give it special medicinal food. During this time, the elephant is not used for work or religious processions.

As mahouts work with Indian elephants, the starvation technique has not been tried on African elephants.

Etymology[link]

The word is derived from Persian مست (mast, pronounced [mæst] in modern Persian), which means "intoxicated"

In modern usage in Indian languages the word also refers to a state of enjoyment, fun, pleasure or gratification—of any kind, experienced by humans or other creatures. In popular culture, the word is encountered frequently, in popular song lyrics, in the titles of Indian TV shows and in the titles of Indian movies, such as Mast, Masti (2004), the Kannada movie Masti (2007), etc.

References in popular culture[link]

Shooting an Elephant is a possibly autobiographical account by George Orwell in which he describes how an elephant in Burma had an attack of musth and went on to kill an Indian, leading the story's narrator to shoot it.

Pon farr is a similar yet fictional condition affecting Vulcans in the Star Trek universe. Like musth, it is a periodic event characterized by irritability, pain and uncontrollable aggression, and is linked to the hormonal cycle. Unlike musth (though not necessarily if the popular interpretation as a sort of "rut" or "heat" is considered), pon farr requires the affected individual to mate as soon as possible, or become insane and die. It also equally affects males and females.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Musth

• All about elephants in zoo and circus. Elephant encyclopedia written by an elephant keeper
• Transport and Maintenance of Musth in Elephants

Mattias "IA" Eklundh (born 1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a guitarist and vocalist, known for his work with the bands Freak Kitchen, Frozen Eyes, Fate, The Jonas Hellborg Trio, and Art Metal; he has also released several noted solo albums.^[2] He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on 3 Soilwork albums.

Biography[link]

Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.^[3]

Mattias IA Eklundh

In the mid-80's, Mattias joined the band Frozen Eyes, a few years later he quit because their manager was holding their money, and they never had a good share of it, until mattias did the math. Frozen Eyes split up soon after their self-titled album was released in 1988 and Mattias subsequently joined Danish metal band Fate as lead guitarist. Mattias appears on their 1990 album Scratch 'n Sniff. He later returned to Sweden, forming his own band Freak Kitchen in 1992 with former Frozen Eyes drummer Joakim Sjöberg and bassplayer Christian Grönlund.^[4] The band played together for 8 years, until Sjöberg and Grönlund left in 2000, only to be replaced by Christer Örtefors and Björn Fryklund.

Outside of Freak Kitchen, Eklundh has recorded several solo albums, and made appearances as a guest musician for Swedish heavy metal bands like Evergrey and Soilwork. His two Freak Guitar solo albums are released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, and include drawings and other artwork by friend Anders Nyberg. In 2005, he grouped with Swedish bass guitarist and composer Jonas Hellborg in the Jonas Hellborg Trio along with drummer Niclas Campagnol and played their first gig in Mumbai, India and followed with a tour of India. His album "Freak Guitar - The Road Less Traveled" features a rock/metal-like remix of not title theme, but the background theme from the 1985 film Fletch.

He also annually hosts and teaches at the Freak Guitar Camp. Mattias Eklundh endorses Caparison guitars, who make his signature Apple Horn guitar, and Yamaha Guitars for the company's unique Silent Guitar electroacoustic. He is also a long time user of Laney amplifiers, currently using a VH100R. Russian manufacturer AMT Electronics have created a signature overdrive/distortion pedal for Eklundh called the Freak Guitar. Recently, Mattias Eklundh became a devoted Kelstone user.

Discography[link]

Solo[link]

• Mr Libido - Sensually Primitive (1996)
• Freak Guitar (1999)
• Freak Guitar: The Road Less Traveled (2005)

With Freak Kitchen[link]

• Appetizer (1994)
• Raw (1994)
• Swedish Hard Rock and Heavy Metal 1970-1996 (1996)
• Spanking Hour (1996)
• Junk Tooth (EP) (1997)
• Freak Kitchen (1998)
• Dead Soul Men (2000)
• Move (2002)
• Lost in Bordeaux - promotional single (2002)
• Swedish Hard Rock & Heavy Metal - bonus CD (2002)
• Nobody's Laughing DVD single (2002)
• Organic (2005)
• Land of the Freaks (2009)

Other[link]

• Frozen Eyes - The Metal Collection III (1987)
• Frozen Eyes - Frozen Eyes (1988)
• Fate - Scratch 'n' Sniff (1990)
• Road Ratt - Road Ratt (1992)
• Is this tough or what? - Compilation (1992)
• Pagan - The Weight (1993)
• Triple & Touch - T & T (1993)
• Tornado Soup - Tornado Soup (1994)
• Hans Lindell - En del av bilden (1996)
• Sven Olander - Air Blue (1997)
• Locomotive Breath (1997)
• Hans Sahlin - Hans Sahlin (1997) (Unreleased)
• Evergrey - The Dark Discovery (1998)
• Torben Schmidt (1998) (Unreleased)
• Janne Lucas (1998) (Unreleased)
• Soilwork - Steelbath Suicide (1998)
• Soilwork - The Chainheart Machine (1999) song - Machinegun Majesty
• Guitar Oddysey - A tribute to Yngwie Malmsteen (1999)
• Soilwork - A Predator's Portrait (2001) song - Needlefeast
• Warmth in the Wilderness - A tribute to Jason Becker (2001)
• Bumblefoot - 9.11 (2001)
• Plug In (2001) (Unreleased)
• Mister Kite - All In Time (2002)
• Locomotive Breath - Heavy Machinery (2002)
• Soilwork - Natural Born Chaos (2002) song - No More Angels
• Johan Randen - Lead Guitar (2002)
• Audiovision - The Calling (2005)
• United - DVD (2005)
• Petrus - Come What Might (2005)
• Martin Motnik with Gregg Bissonette - Bass Invader (2005) songs - YYZ and Bee On Speed
• Art Metal - Art Metal (2007)
• Destrage - Jade's Place (2010)

Instruction Videos:

• Freak Guitar Vol 1 (1995) (VHS)
• Hyper Freak Exercise (1999) (Audio CD)
• Hyper Freak Exercise DVD (2001) (DVD)
• Super Virtuosity DVD (2004) (DVD)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mattias' Website
• Official MySpace
• Mattias' Bio at Favored Nations
• Freak Kitchen among Anders Nyberg' CD covers
• Interview