Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task

Abstract

Elephants are widely assumed to be among the most cognitively advanced animals, even though systematic evidence is lacking. This void in knowledge is mainly due to the danger and difficulty of submitting the largest land animal to behavioral experiments. In an attempt to change this situation, a classical 1930s cooperation paradigm commonly tested on monkeys and apes was modified by using a procedure originally designed for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) to measure the reactions of Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ). This paradigm explores the cognition underlying coordination toward a shared goal. What do animals know or learn about the benefits of cooperation? Can they learn critical elements of a partner's role in cooperation? Whereas observations in nature suggest such understanding in nonhuman primates, experimental results have been mixed, and little evidence exists with regards to nonprimates. Here, we show that elephants can learn to coordinate with a partner in a task requiring two individuals to simultaneously pull two ends of the same rope to obtain a reward. Not only did the elephants act together, they inhibited the pulling response for up to 45 s if the arrival of a partner was delayed. They also grasped that there was no point to pulling if the partner lacked access to the rope. Such results have been interpreted as demonstrating an understanding of cooperation. Through convergent evolution, elephants may have reached a cooperative skill level on a par with that of chimpanzees.

Extraordinary elephant perception

“…The 4-kg elephant brain is remarkably complex, and in many ways, mirrors our own (14,15). Recent studies put elephant social complexity on a par with that of the great apes, including findings of their capacities for mirror self-recognition, cooperation, empathy, and problem-solving (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). It is then of little surprise that they are learning to adapt to their changing natural environments, but quite disturbing that we are forcing them to do so.…”

Taking the Elephants' Perspective: Remembering Elephant Behavior, Cognition and Ecology in Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation

“…We propose to address these questions using two complementary areas of research: the study of elephant behavior and cognition, and the study of elephant ecology and life history. Studies conducted both in Africa and Asia, with both captive and wild populations, show clear evidence for individual differences in a number of ecological and cognitive categories, including parasite load (Lynsdale et al, 2017), body size (Evans and Harris, 2012;Chapman et al, 2016), primiparity (Crawley et al, 2017), social hierarchy (McComb et al, 2011), innovation (Bates et al, 2008b), cooperation (Plotnik et al, 2011), problem-solving (Foerder et al, 2011), aggression (Poole, 1989), and personality (Lee and Moss, 2012;Yasui et al, 2012;Seltmann et al, 2018). Identifying whether or not specific behavioral, physical, demographic or personality traits (collected through future ecological, ethological and experimental research on captive and wild elephants) correlate with an elephant's propensity to crop-raid or engage in conflict may have important implications for preventing or managing these conflicts across different landscapes.…”

“…For instance, in the social context, elephants are generally regarded, like humans, as cognitively complex, socially intelligent animals that display empathy toward and learn socially from conspecifics (Lee and Moss, 1999;Plotnik and de Waal, 2014). Elephants cooperate with each other (e.g., McComb et al, 2001McComb et al, , 2011Plotnik et al, 2011), and there are several anecdotal examples from wild studies of specific targeted helping behaviors in relation to deceased conspecifics and empathy (McComb et al, 2005;Douglas-Hamilton et al, 2006;Bates et al, 2008a). In a physiological context, the pressures on humans and elephants to acquire resources, support the energetic requirements of large bodies and brains over a long life and provisioning offspring means that the resource requirements of both species are high (Shannon et al, 2008;Reiches et al, 2009;Langman et al, 2012).…”

Comparative Cognition Outside the Laboratory

“…Complex cognition is now being investigated in other taxa as well, often in species that cannot be easily studied in either lab or field settings. For example, Asian elephants have demonstrated sophisticated cooperative behavior (Foerder, Galloway, Barthel, Moore, & Reiss, 2011;Plotnik, Lair, Suphachoksahakun, & de Waal, 2011) as well as tool use (Hart, Hart, McCoy, & Sarath, 2001;Whiten, Horner & de Waal, 2005) and self-recognition (Plotnik, de Waal, & Reiss, 2006). Similarly, dolphins at Disney's Epcot Center have been participating in cognitive research for over 25 years (e.g., Harley, Fellner, & Stamper, 2010).…”