There’s the historian factor as well. They’ve found that African Elephant populations are largely constrained by water availability. Creating artificial wateri

There’s the historian factor as well. They’ve found that African Elephant populations are largely constrained by water availability. Creating artificial watering holes is helping restore elephant populations better than most other attempts. But the matriarch is typically one of the oldest female members of the group, and elephants remember watering holes that they haven’t visited since they were young. During a drought they will check all of these secondary and tertiary water sources. If that elephant is killed by poachers, the herd may lose the last remaining record of water resources and suffer for it. I also recall watching a documentary about a troupe of primates. They adopted a young male kicked out of another troupe. Nothing remarkable about him until, again, a drought year. Turns out not all knowledge of edible foods is instinctual. They discovered him eating a fruit none of the tribe had eaten before. When he didn’t die they all started eating it too. So I think we underestimate the value of record keeping with respect to longevity and inter-group mixing. It’s not all genes and safety in numbers.