a platform at the park. They found that elephants were more likely to approach others and make contact with them when they were showing signs of distress in comparison to those exhibiting normal behaviors. This supports the fact that elephants are concerned with the emotional state of their conspecies. Post distress data was also taken, where the researchers observed individuals for ten minutes after displaying signs of distress. The results from the post distress data show that individuals attempted to reassure the distressed elephant by using a specific vocalization. They also concluded that the reassuring a distressed individual was contagious (multiple individuals approached the distressed subject). Soltis, Blowers, &Savage (2011) analyzed the vocalizations of elephants and determined the emotional significance behind them. Audio recording collars that played different vocalizations were attached to seven female elephants at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. Before the start of the experiment, the social contexts of the vocalizations were defined. A neutral response was defined as a scenario where individuals did not approach the subject wearing the collar, dominant individuals did not approach the subject, no social partner approached the subject, and individuals did not make any vocalizations towards the subject. A negative social context was defined as a higher ranked individual approaching the subject and displaying aggressive behaviors including threats or displacement of the subject. A negative social context also includes signs of distress in the subject such as turning away from an individual, urinating, defecations, and running from an individual. A positive social context was defined as a closely related individual approaching the subject and showing non-aggressive behaviors such as trunk entwining. It was observed that negative social contexts occurred when recordings of vocalizations were played with a higher amplitude and longer duration. Positive social contexts occurred when vocalizations were lower in amplitude and shorter in duration. This study provides evidence into how different vocalizations affect an elephant’s emotions. Some researchers hypothesize that elephants can even cry when they are in pain or excited, although this is an extremely controversial topic. One elephant named Raju was observed “crying” after he was rescued after being abused by his owner for over 50 years (Udas, 2014). The ability for elephants to feel emotions symbolizes how advanced their cognition is. The hypothesis stating that elephants are a cognitively complex species was supported. Research has indicated that elephants are capable of self-awareness, understanding and adapting to their environment, problem solving, cooperating with others, and feeling emotions. Through analyzing their brains, it has been found that they have the largest brain of any land animal. They also have specific areas of the brain that are much more developed than other animals that help with memory, sensory acuity, emotion, and learning (Shoshani et al., 206). However, there are weaknesses and limitations in this field of research. First, because it is difficult to study elephants in the wild most studies have been conducted in captive settings such as zoos or elephant sanctuaries. This may affect the results because elephants may behave differently in captivity than they would in the wild. For example, it is common that elephants undergo cruel treatments for the purpose of training in captive settings. It is possible that the cruel
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First, I think that it would be beneficial to directly observe elephants in their natural environment. Many studies I have read utilize GPS tracking systems to analyze their behavior. While technology may aid in observing their behavior, I feel that it would be beneficial to use direct observations to see how they act without any interruptions of technology. I question whether or not the GPS tracker itself had an impact on how the animals behave. I also think that it is important to avoid studying elephants that have had previous training to eliminate any biases. Many elephants in captive settings have been trained for other research, which can affect how they perform. Next, I believe that further research needs to be conducted on elephant emotion. It is extremely difficult to know what an animal is thinking and feeling, and to say that elephants feel a certain way may not be true. For example, although researchers say elephants can cry, this might not be what they are
First, I think that it would be beneficial to directly observe elephants in their natural environment. Many studies I have read utilize GPS tracking systems to analyze their behavior. While technology may aid in observing their behavior, I feel that it would be beneficial to use direct observations to see how they act without any interruptions of technology. I question whether or not the GPS tracker itself had an impact on how the animals behave. I also think that it is important to avoid studying elephants that have had previous training to eliminate any biases. Many elephants in captive settings have been trained for other research, which can affect how they perform. Next, I believe that further research needs to be conducted on elephant emotion. It is extremely difficult to know what an animal is thinking and feeling, and to say that elephants feel a certain way may not be true. For example, although researchers say elephants can cry, this might not be what they are