Elephants show complex cooperative behavior

For much of the last decade, the scientific consensus was that humans were the only conscious and self-aware animals on the planet. Within the last few decades, that attitude has dramatically changed.

It is well established that the great apes, like humans, are self-aware and have the mental development equivalent to that of a five-year-old. A new study may add another animal to that list.

Asian elephants passed a test of cooperation, which cognitive psychologists say demonstrates an ape level of awareness and sense of teamwork.

The study, published March 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, demonstrated that cooperation among elephants is not the result of rote learning, but a product of careful thought. The research team was led by Joshua Plotkin, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge.

Previous experiments have shown that elephants demonstrate advance cognitive skills. A 2006 study led by Frans de Wall, ethologist at Emory University, showed that elephants could recognize themselves in the mirror. This simple skill demonstrates a sophisticated level of self-awareness, on par with that of young humans.

Elephant behavior in the wild has also established that elephants do demonstrate some level of empathy. Pachyderms are highly cooperative in child rearing, and are known to help individuals in distress as well as mourn the dead with simple rituals.

While it is well established that wild elephants are cooperative and exhibit empathy, the extent of the behavior has never been quantified. In addition, scientists wanted to know whether the cooperative behavior observed in the animals was due to instinct or actual thought.

In this test, food was placed on a table inside a box. The elephants could not enter the box and the table was placed opposite of the elephants’ position. In order to access the food, two elephants had to pull simultaneously on a rope, which would slide the table forward. After pulling the rope a certain distance, the elephants would be able to reach through the barrier and eat the food.

If only one elephant pulled the rope, the table would not move. Rather, the rope would have slid around the table with no effect. In order for both elephants to gain access to the food, they had to cooperate simultaneously.

The elephants picked up the trick rather quickly. In the second experiment, one elephant was allowed to approach the barrier 29 seconds before its partner. Scientists wanted to see whether the elephant would start pulling the rope on its own or would wait for the arrival of its partner. Indeed, the elephant waited for the arrival of its partner before it even picked up the rope.

The fact that the elephants demonstrated patience is key. If the elephants pulled automatically, it would be evidence of reflexive behavior. Waiting indicated that the elephants understood that their effort alone was not enough. The elephants understood that in order to succeed both partners need to be around.

Six pairs of elephants were tested 40 times over two days and every pair figured out how to gain access to the food, succeeding on at least eight of the last 10 trials.

During the experiment, one of the elephants even figured out how to cheat the system. Rather than pulling the rope with her partner, the female elephant placed her foot on the rope, keeping the line taut. As a result, her partner ended up doing all the work of pulling the table closer.

Plotnik and his team would like to design more sophisticated tests to measure elephant cooperation. In addition, the team would like to examine cooperative behavior in other animals. However, other social animals like lions may not be amenable to study.