Elephants are able to understand when a task requires teamwork and can cooperate to retrieve a reward, according to a new study.
Although elephants are widely assumed to be highly intelligent, the dangers and difficulties involved in testing such a large animal mean that experimental evidence is often lacking.
The new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a jumbo-sized version of apparatus usually used to test monkeys and apes. The experiment required two Asian elephants to pull together on ropes to bring a table of food within reach.
The elephants quickly learned to cooperate to get their reward, and would even wait for their partner before trying to pull on the rope, showing that they understood the need to work together.
One elephant even came up with an alternative strategy, putting her foot on the rope and waiting for her partner to do all the work of pulling on the other.
Highly intelligent species
These findings show that elephants are as capable of cooperation as apes, putting them in an “elite group” of intelligent and socially complex animals which includes chimpanzees, dolphins and some birds.
View stunning photos and videos of the Asian elephant on ARKive.
Liz Shaw, ARKive Species Text Author