In the experiment, an elephant pair would cooperate by pulling the rope together in order to get the corn in the red buckets.
Credit: Joshua Plotnik/Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation
PERTH: Using a classic animal psychology experiment scientists have found that elephants have a rare understanding of how cooperation works and will offer a helping trunk to those in need.
In terms of intelligence elephants are considered to be on par with chimpanzees and dolphins, but their cognitive abilities have been little studied due to the dangerous nature of working with them. With less than 2,500 Asian elephants left in Thai jungles, a better understanding of elephant intelligence could lead to more effective conservation programs for this endangered species.
“The results are exciting because they support, empirically, what we’ve known all along, elephants are among the most intelligent species,” said lead author Joshua Plotnik, a graduate student in psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Experiment previously used for chimps
In 2006, Plotnik showed that elephants have the rare ability to recognise themselves in mirrors, joining humans, great apes, rhesus macaques, bottlenose dolphins, orcas and European Magpies as the only animals known to possess this form of self-awareness.
In his new study, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Plotnik and his team found that not only can elephants cooperate with friends but they also understand how cooperation works.
Plotnik used a classic 1930s cooperation experiment, originally designed for chimpanzees, on a small group of elephants at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre. The experiment was modified to suit the elephants but was essentially the same as the original.
Learning how to obtain treats
The experiment involved a table with a rare treat of corn, being placed out of reach of the elephants. Two elephants were released down separate aisles, the only way to get to the table was for both elephants to pull on the rope in their aisle simultaneously.
If only one end of the rope was pulled the rope would slide out from around the table and the treat would remain out of reach.
The elephants received some initial training from their handlers, or ‘mahouts’, so they knew how to pull the end of a rope. During the trials the mahouts turned their backs to the elephants after giving a release command so as not to influence the elephants behaviour.
