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Cited by 14Primate Behavior and EcologyWildlife Ecology and ConservationAnimal Behavior and Reproduction

Innovating to solve a novel puzzle: wild Asian elephants vary in their ability to problem solve

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Jacobson, Sarah L., Dechanupong, Juthapathra, Horpiencharoen, Wantida, Yindee, Marnoch, Plotnik, Joshua M.·2023·Animal Behaviour
DOI 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.08.019

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Abstract

An animal’s capacity for innovation ¬or solving novel problems likely has important implications for how quickly they can adapt to environmental change. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) living in zoos have previously demonstrated a capacity to innovate, but problem solving has never been studied experimentally in a wild elephant population. We installed puzzle boxes with multiple possible solutions inside a protected area in western Thailand to determine individual variation in innovation, as well as other behavioral traits associated with elephants’ problem solving, including persistence, exploratory diversity, and neophilia. We recorded 77 elephants approaching the puzzle box, with 44 interacting with the box in their first exposure. Individuals varied widely in their success opening the doors of the puzzle box. Such success was influenced by persistence and exploratory diversity in both the first interaction as well as across multiple interactions. However, when considering each individual’s overall innovation scores, which represented how many different doors elephants were able to open across all of their interactions with the puzzle box, only greater persistence and interaction number were associated with reaching a higher innovation score. We observed that elephants who interacted with the box multiple times learned to open a door of any type more quickly as their interactions increased, but we did not see evidence of learning to open specific door types over time. Overall, this study about how innovation and its associated behaviors vary in wild elephants not only informs our understanding of how a capacity for problem solving is expressed, but also how well elephants may be able to adapt to, overcome or avoid increasingly frequent interactions with humans within their natural habitat.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.08.019

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  • Five out of 44 wild elephants who interacted with a novel multiaccess puzzle box solved all three door types, and eight out of 13 captive elephants solved all three door types, which provides evidence that elephants can innovate to find solutions to a novel problem.

    “Five out of 44 wild elephants who interacted with the box solved all three door types (Jacobson et al., 2023), and eight out of 13 captive elephants solved all three door types (Jacobson et al., 2022), which provides evidence that elephants can innovate to find solutions to a novel problem.”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Jacobson et al., 2023

  • Jacobson et al. (2023) found that the latency to open any puzzle box door type decreased in wild elephants over multiple interactions, suggesting that elephants likely learned that they could gain access to food from the box. However, latency to open did not decrease for particular door types, suggesting that elephants may not have retained knowledge of how to open a specific door.

    “Jacobson et al. (2023) also found that the latency to open any puzzle box door type decreased in wild elephants over multiple interactions, suggesting that elephants likely learned that they could gain access to food from the box. However, latency to open did not decrease for particular door types, suggesting that elephants may not have retained knowledge of how to open a specific door.”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Jacobson et al., 2023

  • Camera traps can be programmed to record almost continuous video data, so that precise behaviors can be observed over time.

    “For example, camera traps can be programmed to record almost continuous video data (e.g., <1 s recovery time), so that precise behaviors can be observed over time (e.g., Jacobson et al., 2023).”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Jacobson et al., 2023

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Authors
Jacobson, S. L., Dechanupong, J., Horpiencharoen, W., Yindee, M., & Plotnik, J. M.
Affiliations
  • The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
  • Walailak University (TH)
Corresponding author
  • Jacobson, Sarah L.
  • Plotnik, Joshua M.
ORCID
Venue
Animal Behaviour
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2023-11
Volume
205
Pages
227-239
ISSN
0003-3472
DOI
10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.08.019
OpenAlex
W4386984702
Cited by
14
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Animal Behaviour (acceptedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • City University of New York
  • National Research Council of Thailand
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service (F18AP00456, F19AP00052, F22AP00035)
  • National Science Foundation (DGE-1646736)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Keywords
Asian elephant, problem solving, innovation, interindividual variability, persistence, neophilia, puzzle box, wild elephants, human-elephant interaction

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