Elephant Psychology

It is said that Elephants never forget. But the more we know about this giant animal, we come to know that this memory power is only one of the incredible qualities of it. That's why elephants are some of the most social, creative and benevolent creatures of the earth.

Elephants can recognize their herd mates very well. They can identify as many as 30 companions by sight or smell. This comes to great help when they migrate from one place to another or to encounter potentially hostile elephants. They also remember any clues about danger or threats. They only remember their companions but also other creatures who had strong impression over them.

For instance, two elephants used to work in a circus together. They rejoined 23 years later while crossing path. Elephants also remember the humans with whom they have interacted even decades after decades. All of these show us elephant psychology is special from other species.

Maybe the reason lies into their brains. Elephants hold the largest brain among the land mammals. Their brain has some evident similarities with human brain with as many synapses and neurons and a highly developed hippocampus and cerebral cortex. This hippocampus is strongly associated with emotions. It aids recollection by encoding important experiences into long term memories. The ability to distinguish this importance makes elephants a complex and adaptable faculty beyond rote memorization.

An experience of calamity in childhood acts as an sign of danger in adulthood. That's why clans with higher older members have better survival rate. For example, in 1993 in Tanzania a dangerous drought rook place. The herds which had older matriarchs moved to the place where was greater chance of getting water. But the herds with younger matriarchs couldn't do so. Elephants are one of the few non-human animals who suffer from post traumatic disorder. That's a kind of disadvantage of their advanced brain system.

Cerebral cortex, on the other hand enables problem solving. They can deal with many problems creatively which other species cannot. Many of the times they work co-operatively. They can even manipulate and outwit their partners. In addition, they have grasped basic arithmetic.

Elephants communicate through infrasound rumbles that can be heard from kilometers away. From that we can understand they have own language and grammar. Elephants also can art and recognize 12 distinct tones of music and recreate melodies,

Perhaps the most fascinating characteristics of them are their empathy, altruism and justice. Elephants are the only non-human animals who mourn the dead, perform burial rituals and visit the graves.

There's a story I want to share. Once an elephant refused to put a log in a hole where a dog was sleeping. That means they also show concern for other species.

Now some people might say there are also some aggressive elephants who attack the human villages and cause destruction. But you will find out those attacks took place soon after massive poaching or culling. Because elephants take revenges!!

All these evidences prove that elephants are conscious, intelligent and emotional beings. However, unfortunately cruel human behavior towards them doesn't reflect that. They continue to suffer from habitat destruction in Asia, ivory poaching in Africa and captivity worldwide.

What elephants teach us as an intelligent animals are quite fascinating. So they deserve our compassionate behaviors. But it is sad truth that now days they are only used for profit purpose. They are mistreated in circuses, their body parts are sold out and many more tortures take place. As mentioned earlier elephants suffer from post traumatic disorder. So many of them cannot tolerate the grief of losing their partners and die eventually.

Aren't you astonished to learn that how smart elephants can be? Hopefully there are many global sanctuaries for elephants. Definitely we must be more compassionate towards the largest land mammals.