Ele Eye-Openers

Elephants:

Have names for each other

A recent study suggests that African elephants use specific, name-like calls to address each other, a rare ability among non-human animals, according to a study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. 

Use extraordinarily complex systems to communicate.

They communicate vocally, visually, tactilely, through smell, and by seismic vibrations that travel through the ground and along the Earth’s surface. It is believed that these vibrations can travel and be detected by elephants from miles away.

Elephants are able to interpret the vibrations’ meaning using their highly sensitive feet and trunks.

Behave in ways that are inexplicable.

Laurence Anthony was a South African conservationist, environmentalist, explorer and author. Anthony took on and cared for a herd of “problem” elephants, with whom he developed a singular bond over a number of years. Within two days of Anthony's death, the elephants walked two days to his home. No one had communicated to the animals that Anthony had died (and how would they?). They stood rigid for hours, then began making distress noises as though they knew he had died. For seven years after, on the anniversary of his death, this same herd repeated the journey to his home and engaged in the same ritual.

Are dwindling

A pioneering study over five decades and 475 survey sites revealed dramatic declines in Africa’s elephant population densities – 90% for forest elephants and 70% for savannah elephants. Elephants have no natural enemies. Just us.

Are very, very smart

Elephants have the largest brains of any land animal, weighing around 4.8–5 kg and containing about 257 billion neurons-three times more than humans167. Their cerebral cortex, responsible for higher cognition, is highly developed and even larger in volume than that of any primate17. They demonstrate advanced problem-solving and can learn to cooperate with others to achieve shared goals, a skill comparable to chimpanzees157. They use tools, show ingenuity in overcoming obstacles, and can even manipulate complex objects like locks to access food5.

Their memory is legendary, allowing them to recall individuals, places, and migration routes over many years57. Elephants are deeply social, recognizing and remembering other individuals, forming complex relationships, and even showing behaviors associated with empathy, grief, and compassion159. And They display a wide range of emotions, including joy, grief, and empathy, and can suffer from psychological conditions similar to PTSD169.

Are Self-Aware

In 2005, Happy, at age 34, became the first elephant to “pass” the mirror self-recognition test, considered to be an indicator of self-awareness. Happy faced her reflection in an 8-by-8-foot mirror and repeatedly used her trunk to touch an "X" painted above her eye. The elephant could not have seen the mark except in her reflection. Furthermore, Happy ignored a similar mark, made on the opposite side of her head in paint of an identical smell and texture, that was invisible unless seen under black light. This complex behavior has been observed in only a few other species.

Heartbreakingly - particularly in light of her being the first to demonstrate this self-awareness to us - Happy to this day languishes, alone, in awful conditions at New York’s Bronx Zoo. She was born in the wild in 1971 and has lived at the Bronx Zoo since 1977. She is now 53 years old. That Happy and other elephants are self-aware makes imprisoning them for a lifetime for our supposed entertainment that much more tragic.

Outperform dogs in several cognitive and emotional benchmarks

In addition to self-recognition, an ability dogs lack, 4 elephants understand their physical presence as obstacles in tasks, which is linked to abstract thinking. 24 For problem solving, elephants use tools (e.g., blocks as stepping stools) and cooperate to solve complex tasks, such as pulling ropes simultaneously for food rewards. 25. Dogs solve simpler problems, like opening doors, but rely more on associative learning/training. 5

Elephants possess highly sophisticated spatial memory, allowing them to remember and navigate complex migration routes over hundreds of miles, often across what to humans see as featureless landscapes. 17. They also recall water sources, and individual faces for decades. That they mourn deceased herd members indicates long-term emotional memory. 26.

Elephants display altruism and grief; dogs show loyalty but less complex emotional reciprocity. 49. Dogs excel in associative memory (e.g., commands, routines) but lack the spatial and social recall seen in elephants. 5

In terms of social intelligence, elephants live in matriarchal herds with complex communication (vocalizations, low-frequency rumbles, body language). As discussed, they show empathy, aid injured members, and grieve deaths. 49 Dogs are highly responsive to training, having adapted to read human gestures and emotions. 45.

Elephants use low-frequency rumbles, trumpets, and physical gestures to communicate. Dogs specialize in interpreting human cues (e.g., tone, gestures) and learning commands. 5

Elephants have larger brains with a highly complex neocortex and spindle neurons linked to advanced cognition. 5 Dogs have smaller brains optimized for sensory processing and quick associative learning. 5. Elephants are widely regarded as one of the most intelligent non-human animals, displaying behaviors associated with grief, learning, mimicry, play, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and complex communication. 1

In direct comparison, elephants are generally smarter than human babies under two years old in several cognitive domains, including self-awareness, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. 156 As human children grow, their intelligence, of course, eventually surpasses that of elephants, but during infancy, elephants demonstrate more advanced mental abilities.

Make lifetime bonds

In the early 1970s, Shirley and Jenny, two Asian elephants, briefly lived together as circus elephants. Jenny was just a calf from Sumatra, and Shirley, older and more experienced, likely served as a source of comfort and guidance for her in a strange new world. 37

After their time together, their lives took difficult paths-both endured years of hardship in captivity and performance. Shirley spent over two decades in a circus and then lived alone in a zoo for 22 years, while Jenny was shuffled between circuses, suffered injuries, and lived in poor conditions before being rescued. 37

In 1999, Shirley and Jenny were unexpectedly reunited at The Elephant Sanctuary. Their reaction was extraordinary: the two elephants bent steel bars trying to get close, trumpeted, and rumbled throughout the night. Caretakers had never seen such a strong emotional response, and once the gate was opened, the reunion was complete. 7

For the next seven years, Shirley and Jenny were inseparable, forming a bond described as similar to a mother and daughter. They spent their days together, supporting each other in their new, peaceful home.

Mourn

Elephants form family groups, with intense social bonds. Their interactions around deceased individuals demonstrate advanced social consciousness and emotional depth. Researchers have noted eerie stillness among elephants inspecting remains, accompanied by behaviors that suggest distress or curiosity.

Elephants have been observed caressing the remains of deceased individuals with their trunks and feet, smelling and tasting the bones, and even attempting to lift or carry them. They sometimes cover the bodies in a manner resembling burial rituals. In one study, Asian elephants were observed burying their dead calves by carrying them to specific locations and covering them with soil, leaves or branches. In Samburu National Reserve, elephants were observed repeatedly visiting the remains of a matriarch named Victoria weeks after her death, exploring her body and standing silently nearby.

On May 11, 2025 in Perak, Malaysia a baby elephant was struck and killed by a truck while crossing the road with its mother. The mother elephant stood guard over her calf's body for hours, refusing to leave the accident site despite efforts from rescuers and wildlife officials to move her footage captured the mother desperately trying to push the truck off her dying calf.

A study in India documented Asian elephants burying deceased calves. Herds carried the calves using trunks and legs, placed them in the earth with legs facing upward, and covered them with soil. The elephants roared and trumpeted around the burial sites before leaving and avoiding the area later.

Female and male elephants display different mourning behaviors. Females are typically more pronounced and socially coordinated due to their strong familial ties, whereas males display more individualistic responses consistent with their solitary nature.

This behavior is not limited to their own species. There are recorded instances where elephants have covered dead or sleeping humans with branches or attempted to aid them when they are hurt. This has been documented in both African and Asian elephant populations. There are anecdotal and some documented reports of elephants covering dead or sleeping humans with branches or attempting to help injured people. Elephants have also been observed covering the wounds of deceased companions with mud and vegetation, suggesting a level of awareness and care for the dead.

Are endlessly surprising

In 2019, I spent a week in Kenya at one of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s elephant orphanages. On my last day, as I was embracing the keepers and saying my thank yous and goodbyes, they started leading the elephants out for the day. Last in line was Shukuru, an elephant with whom I had spent much time and was able to make physical contact with (she could not be reintegrated so this was permitted). After a few steps with the others, she stopped, turned and walked back to me, maybe from 10-15 yards away. We made contact and she turned back around to catch up. This was the only time she had done this with me, on that last day, when I was saying goodbye.

Are compassionate

The Save Elephant Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, captured little Kham Lha racing to the aid of Darrick Thomson, the co-founder of the foundation. Thomson and his staff rescued Kham La and her mother Bai Teoy in 2015. Thomson was calling out to her on the shore, and she interpreted his calls as distress cries (he was totally fine, though). Kham Lha charged through the water, sheltering him with her body and offering her trunk for him to hold on to.

In West Bengal in 2019, an elephant shielded a 4-year-old girl from the rest of the herd. The girl was travelling with her parents on a two-wheeler ridden by her father. When a herd of elephants suddenly appeared from a forested patch on to the road, he lost balance, crashing the vehicle.

One of the elephants from the group walked towards the toddler and stood still, keeping the girl between its legs till the others from the herd crossed the road. As IFS officer Parveen Kaswan put it to The Better India (TBI), “Elephants are social animals, who live in families. They are capable of showing many emotions, one important of which is compassion.”