Lim 1

Historical Review:
The Cognitive Capabilities and Behaviors of Elephants
The cognitive and emotional capacities of any living species can be observed and is
correlated with their behavior towards any given situation. In order to achieve a certain
understanding of the topics of cognitive, emotional capacities and behaviors of elephants, we
must first have the basic knowledge of their characteristics. From there we will turn into the
different types of communication, leadership and self-recognition capabilities because that is
what indicates the intelligence from what scientists have observed in many other species. We
must also have the mindset of the standards of intelligence is not based on human intelligence
because of different capabilities.
One of the ways to measure the complexity of the brain is through communication
(Wemmer 84). According to Byrne, primates and elephants are related to a certain extent, and are
clever enough to communicate with one another with the slightest interaction with one another,
like flapping their ears or moving their tail at a certain speed. They are observant of what the
other elephants in their bond groups are doing (Byrne 2). There are various ways as to how
elephants communicate, such as making sounds through their trunks, nasal cavity to their
forehead and mouths. They also use their tails, trunks and subtle leg movements. (Garstang 58).
Michael H. Goldstein, psychology professor at Cornell University, explains that an infant first
learns communicative skills by first-hand experience with their sensory capabilities. Calves are
similar to toddlers as they are exploring their environments and copying what others are doing
because it is convenient and simple. Although they may not have the full mentality to understand
what they are doing, they learn certain triggers that mean the same thing every single time
(Bradshaw 428). Most of calves learn from following their elders in the family unit until they are

Lim 2
capable of copying exact movements and calls (Garstang 91). Elephants communicate differently
when interacting with different units but they can distinguish calls from miles away (Byrne 5).
According to Michael Garstang, from Cynthia Moss and Joyce Poole, research members
of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya, describes the family units as bond
groups differing from one another mainly consisting of adult females whom are matrilineal
relatives and their immature offspring (Garstang 59). Age of maturity for male elephants is
fifteen. They leave their bond group and roam on their own or with other male elephants from
other bond groups until they mate with a female from another bond group (Bates 2). Within their
male societies that they have temporarily created until maturity and mating, the age determines
the social standing. The older the elephant in the bond group, the more responsibility the
elephant has because they have to take care of the others. Within the bond groups, female and
offspring or all male, elephants follow the oldest elephant because that is their way of showing
respect in the group and knowing that by following the oldest, they are also learning from
elephants that have roamed the same lands from previous generations (Chiyo 1095). Females in
bond groups are able to gain more experience for their future calves as they help increase the
calves of surviving. Not only are they looking after the calves but they also see how the pregnant
females take care of themselves and take care of each other. Through this, female elephants
experience distress and emotions they let out through their noises they make indicating that they
are in pain. Females can distinguish more than 100 vocalizations of other female elephants
(Figure 1). This shows the different capabilities of elephants from humans and primates because
they would not be under the same standards of being intelligent where hearing is their primary
way for communication and knowing that their bond group members are safe from a far distance.
They are able to indicate where their location is because they have traveled through the same

Lim 3
paths before just as any other elephant would in their situation, teaching future generations in
order for them to pass it down and create a sense of history or tradition in elephant culture for
their bond group (Wemmer 80).
Self-recognition is another form of intelligence; which elephants are capable of doing.
Being able to recognize yourself through a
reflection of a mirror signifies that one is
self-aware of their actions nor the emotions
of others around them (Garstang 50). In
many cases, mammals react aggressively
seeing their reflections which is an indication
of them not knowing their behaviors or
thoughts and relying more on replicating
actions they see others do. Although there are
only three species can recognize themselves
in the mirror, elephants are still empathetic
towards though who are emotional and they
can sense their emotions by observing them
either closely or from a distance since they are able to hear from a long distance. Being selfaware is important because in society or in the case of elephants, the first thing that should be on
their mind is caring for one another since they do not have any other species to care for them,
meaning they are the biggest animal in their living environments making them in control of what
the other animals should be provided with (Wemmer 91). The correlation of recognizing
emotions of others and mirror self-recognition does not apply to elephants because they mourn

Lim 4
for those whom they have lost. Elephants are capable of emotions but they are also capable of
being reasonable. Creating an environment where all animals benefit where it is through a
convenient pathway or a water source, elephants care after all of the other species because they
sympathize, they want to be able to help themselves and help others because they are about
having familial connections more than being above others. Elephants have used tools from trees
in order to create a path for animals to safely walk through the land and help those who are not
capable of carrying the weight that needs in order to create on. Elephant trunks are strong and the
body mass of elephant helps in order dig wells in order to provide water for all animals during
harsh times where resources were diminished due to extremities (Bradshaw 431).
When males make a temporary bond group, their behaviors are not aggressive towards
each other because they care for each other under any circumstances. Growing up in a bond
group teaches the calves that in order to achieve, one must help in order get help in return. They
do not let themselves roam alone due to the possibility of one being killed. With their physical
size of being large, being in one bond group makes provides protection for all elephants, which
the older elephants are responsible of whether they are kin or not of kin. An all-male bond group
helps the mature elephants navigate themselves and then later teach others who join them when
they are going through the same path (Chiyo 1097). The age of elephants become important
when taking responsibility after a bond group. Leadership experience comes with age and one of
the biggest decisions is when it comes to defending the bond group from any predatory threat
such as tigers or lions. Older animals are more knowledgeable of migration routes for bond
groups, which is why it is safe to follow and soon pass it down to bond groups they might
become a part of later on in their life span (McComb 3271). The probability of bunching for
elephants depends on the number of predators

Lim 5
that they come into contact with because that affects their elephants in the bond group. The more

predators, the higher possibility of elephants bunching together in order to protect their calves.
(Figure 2) Observing how elephants travel together in bond groups shows how much they need
to be surrounded by their own. Elephants have emotions just like humans which means
depression can also be one of them; not only during mourning but since they remember
everything they have experienced, that reminds them of certain emotions that they may have not
thought of for a while (Moss 46).
In conclusion, elephants have the capabilities of responding emotionally and reasonably
towards situations that they encounter throughout their lives. Being able to recognize such
behavior gives more of a reason to explore and observe how one thought leads to an action for
elephants. Although some are not fully aware of themselves, does not necessarily mean they are
not emotionally attached. When it comes to being an orphaned elephant, bond groups learn how
to care for them and treat them like their own, showing the characteristic of leadership and
understanding every situation.

Lim 6

Work Cited

Lim 7
Bradshaw, G. A., and Allan N. Schore. "How Elephants Are Opening Doors: Developmental
Neuroethology, Attachment and Social Context." Ethology 113.5 (2007): 426-36. Web.
Byrne, Richard W., Lucy A. Bates, and Cynthia J. Moss. "Elephant Cognition in Primate
Perspective." Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews CCBR 4 (2009): 1-15. Print.
Chiyo, Patrick I., Elizabeth A. Archie, Julie A. Hollister-Smith, Phyllis C. Lee, Joyce H. Poole,
Cynthia J. Moss, and Susan C. Alberts. "Association Patterns of African Elephants in Allmale Groups: The Role of Age and Genetic Relatedness." Animal Behaviour 81.6 (2011):
1093-099. Web.
Garstang, Michael. "Elephant Sense and Sensibility." Academic Press (2015). Science Direct.
Elsevier, 20 Feb. 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Mccomb, K., G. Shannon, S. M. Durant, K. Sayialel, R. Slotow, J. Poole, and C. Moss.
"Leadership in Elephants: The Adaptive Value of Age." Proceedings of the Royal Society
B: Biological Sciences 278.1722 (2011): 3270-276. Web.
Moss, Cynthia, Harvey Croze, and Phyllis C. Lee. "Behavior, Communication and
Cognition." The Amboseli Elephants: A Long-term Perspective on a Long-lived Mammal.
Chicago: U of Chicago, 2011. 107-84. Print.
Moss, Cynthia. Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family. Chicago:
U of Chicago, 2012. Print.
Rothfels, N., "The Eyes of Elephants: Changing Perceptions." (2008): 39-50. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Wemmer, Christen M., and Catherine A. Christen. Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of
Coexistence. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2008. Print.