Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task
Open accessAbstract
Elephants are widely assumed to be among the most cognitively advanced animals, even though systematic evidence is lacking. This void in knowledge is mainly due to the danger and difficulty of submitting the largest land animal to behavioral experiments. In an attempt to change this situation, a classical 1930s cooperation paradigm commonly tested on monkeys and apes was modified by using a procedure originally designed for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) to measure the reactions of Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ). This paradigm explores the cognition underlying coordination toward a shared goal. What do animals know or learn about the benefits of cooperation? Can they learn critical elements of a partner's role in cooperation? Whereas observations in nature suggest such understanding in nonhuman primates, experimental results have been mixed, and little evidence exists with regards to nonprimates. Here, we show that elephants can learn to coordinate with a partner in a task requiring two individuals to simultaneously pull two ends of the same rope to obtain a reward. Not only did the elephants act together, they inhibited the pulling response for up to 45 s if the arrival of a partner was delayed. They also grasped that there was no point to pulling if the partner lacked access to the rope. Such results have been interpreted as demonstrating an understanding of cooperation. Through convergent evolution, elephants may have reached a cooperative skill level on a par with that of chimpanzees.
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When faced with the delayed release of a partner, or the need to wait for a partner or mitigate the arrival of a competitor in a task requiring that two ends of the same rope are pulled together to obtain an out-of-reach food reward, elephants will wait to pull until their partner cooperator can pull with them.
“In these studies, when faced with the delayed release of a partner (Plotnik et al., 2011), or the need to wait for a partner or mitigate the arrival of a competitor (Li et al., 2021) in a task requiring that two ends of the same rope are pulled together to obtain an out-of-reach food reward, elephants will wait to pull until their partner cooperator can pull with them.”
From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Plotnik et al., 2011
Asian elephants have demonstrated an understanding of the role of a partner in a cooperative problem-solving task.
“In addition, Asian elephants have demonstrated an understanding of the role of a partner in a cooperative problem-solving task (Li et al., 2021; Plotnik et al., 2011).”
From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Plotnik et al., 2011
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- Authors
- Plotnik, J. M., Lair, R., Suphachoksahakun, W., & de Waal, F. B. M.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Thai Elephant Conservation Center, Forest Industry Organization, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lampang 52000, Thailand
- Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322; and
- ORCID
- Plotnik, Joshua M.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2011-03-07
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 5116-5121
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3064331
- OpenAlex
- W2045165124
- Cited by
- 308
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 20.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- Asian elephant, cooperation, social cognition, inhibitory control, convergent evolution, chimpanzee comparison, animal cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Cooperative Behavior, Elephants, Female, Male, Primates
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