An Elephant Never Forgets
Elephants are often used as the poster children for animal memory abilities. This is usually because of their amazing ability to remember their fellow herd members and their migration abilities which require location and timing memory. But elephants may be even more impressive and possess more human-like mental qualities than you'd expect!
Picture from: https://www.livescience.com/27320-elephants.html
Why do elephants have such impressive memories? Looking at the brain of an elephant gives clues as to why elephants are so good at remembering. The elephant has the largest brain of any terrestrial mammal (don't get too excited- think about how big their whole body is!). But, they also have a high EQ, which is the ratio between brain size and body size. An elephant has about a 2.30 EQ. For comparison, rabbits have an EQ of about 0.4, chimps are at about 2.49, while humans are around 7.44 (Jerison, 1974).
Anecdotal stories of elephants' memory abilities can be found everywhere! In addition to the up to 30 herd mates that elephants remember by sight and smell in the wild, elephants have been found to remember humans or other animals who make an impact on their lives. One such example is Tara, an elephant who bonded with a stray dog who wandered into her sanctuary. After his passing, she showed signs of sadness and grieving, and her companions on the sanctuary have been seen trying to lift her spirits with extra food and interaction.
Unfortunately, this talent may also have a downside: studies have shown that elephants are capable of a PTSD-like condition. Between the 1960s and 1990s, it was believed that if populations of elephants got too large, they would overrun sanctuary areas. To combat this, the population was periodically reduced by killing almost an entire herd. Some surviving elephants from these herds were studied in the Pilanesberg National Park and their responses were suggestive of a PTSD-like condition. When listening to sounds similar to those they would have experienced, such as a large vehicles, the elephants would react in ways that suggest they still remember the experiences. They also found these elephants reacted with fear to calls of familiar elephants. The effects of their trauma may have negative impacts on their ability to form social bonds and mate, according to the researchers.
Though studies such as the one above are not very common, the cognitive abilities of elephants, including memory, problem solving, and maybe even language, have been investigated. One study showed a cognitive feat only previously known in humans, chimps, and orangutans: elephants can recognize their own reflection in a mirror (Plotnik, de Waal, & Reiss, 2006) showing they have a concept of self awareness. Elephants are also known to be very creative beings. Below is a video of Suda the elephant painting.
In the wild, elephants use their memory and other cognitive abilities to survive migration as well as other challenges in their environment. Some believe that the key to their long lives (50-60 years) is due to their memory! Memories such as food location, threat cues, and recognizing friends or foes are all necessary for elephants. Studies have shown a very strong working memory in elephants, and researchers believe this is due to the herd size of about 30 which the matriarch must keep track of during travel (Ritchie 2009).
Their gifts in memory and cognition are very interesting, but elephants are in need of our help! The African Elephant is considered vulnerable while the Asian Elephant is an endangered species. Both are vulnerable to poaching for their ivory. By being aware of these issues, we all can help to save these amazing creatures and hope that we can discover more about their cognitive abilities.
Topic chosen in honor of National Elephant Appreciation Day (September 22nd)
Sources Cited:
- Jerison, H. J. (1974). Evolution of the brain and intelligence. New York: Academic Press.
- Plotnik, J. M., de Waal, F. B. M., & Reiss, D. (2006). Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 17053–17057.
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elephants-suffer-from-ptsd-like-condition/%C2%A0/
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/elephants-never-forget/
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