The state of high testosterone and aggression in male elephants is called musth.
Musth is a periodic reproductive and behavioral condition in bull elephants. During it, testosterone rises sharply, males become more competitive and aggressive, and they may seek females more actively. Musth also involves distinctive physical signs, including fluid flowing from the temporal glands on the sides of the head and frequent urine dribbling.
The condition is not the same as estrus: estrus describes a female's fertile phase, while musth occurs in males. “Rut” is a broader term commonly used for seasonal mating behavior in some mammals, but musth is the specific canonical term for elephants. Torpor, by contrast, means a state of reduced activity and metabolism, making it the opposite of the energized behavior associated with musth.
Musth has been recognized in Asian elephants for thousands of years. In African elephants, modern scientific descriptions followed field observations in Amboseli National Park in the 1970s and early 1980s. The timing and duration vary with age, condition and species; older bulls may remain in musth for weeks or months.