Did you know that Hunter College boasts the only lab in the world dedicated to the cognition of the Asian elephant? The research in this lab is crucial, and, as such, we wanted to celebrate by hosting our own Elephant Week!
VIDEO: Learn about this magnanimous mammal
We kick things off on World Elephant Day (August 12) with a fun quiz on our Instagram account. Celebrated since 2012, the day brings attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants, animals on the verge of extinction!
Plotnik’s Comparative Cognition for Conservation Lab at Hunter investigates the Asian elephant as a way of contributing to efforts to protect them in the wild.
The work is important and potentially lifesaving for both species. Understanding the decision-making, priorities, and survival needs of wild elephants contributes to efforts aimed at helping animal and humans coexist amicably. Photo: New York Times
Meet Elephant Researcher Joshua Plotnik
Joshua Plotnik is an associate professor of psychology and director of the Animal Behavior & Conservation Graduate Programs at Hunter College. He leads Hunter’s Comparative Cognition for Conservation Lab, the only such facility in the world dedicated to the cognition of the Asian elephant. His research takes him from the Bronx Zoo to the forests of Thailand, where he seeks to understand the minds of these magnificent animals. We spoke with him about his journey, the truth behind common elephant myths, and the complexities of their conservation.
I realized in college that my passion wasn’t for medicine, but for understanding animal behavior. This led me to a PhD program with the renowned primate researcher Frans de Waal. I told him I was interested in the intelligence of non-primate animals, such as dolphins and elephants. A pivotal opportunity arose when he and Diana Reiss (now a professor at Hunter) sought to test whether elephants could recognize themselves in a mirror — a sign of self-awareness linked to higher cognitive abilities, such as empathy.
I took on the project at the Bronx Zoo, and the elephants did indeed pass the test. After that, I was hooked. I saw a huge opportunity to study elephant cognition in Asia, where there is a long history of humans working hands-on with them. I went to Thailand with a small grant 20 years ago to essentially “play games” with elephants to test their intelligence, and I never left.
We suspect their memory is very good, but there is not a lot of direct scientific evidence explaining that specific phrase. They live in large, complex family groups of up to 100 individuals and migrate over vast distances to find food and water, which suggests a strong long-term memory. But I think the saying is mostly passed down through popular culture, thanks to figures like Dumbo and Babar. We are actually just starting to conduct specific research on their memory now.
Absolutely. When I lived in Thailand full-time, I was certain the elephants at one facility knew me well. I was the one who brought them treats. There were times I’d be standing 100 or 200 yards away, and an elephant would see — or more likely, smell — me and come running at full speed. The first time it happened was terrifying! But they would always stop right in front of me, waiting for their treat. That was pretty convincing evidence that they knew exactly who I was.
Just like us, it varies. A lot of elephants we work with love sunflower seeds, probably because they're salty when roasted. They also love sweet, sugary fruits like pineapple, sugarcane, jackfruit, and even the famously pungent durian.
The amount they eat is staggering. A fully grown elephant can eat up to 250 kilograms (about 550 pounds) of food in a single day. This fact is at the heart of human-elephant conflict. When you have hundreds of elephants that each require 550 pounds of food daily, sharing land with people, you're bound to encounter problems with crop-raiding and competition for resources.
Yes. They are intelligent, flexible, and highly protective of their families. They can be very gentle, but also very dangerous. At one point, being an elephant keeper was considered one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet in terms of fatalities. When my team is in the wild, we are extremely careful and always work with rangers for safety.
I think that’s mostly a funny story. In my experience, some elephants just don’t like small, quick things running around their feet, much like some dogs are nervous around toddlers. I’ve seen plenty of rodents near elephants that don’t even seem to notice them. I believe the show MythBustersactually did an episode on this and came to a similar conclusion.
It’s difficult to choose one! I’ve been lucky enough to see elephants recognizing themselves in mirrors and cooperating with each other, but in a recent study my former student Sarah Jacobson and I did in Thailand, we saw wild elephants solve a problem (opening a door with food behind it) in three different ways in under two minutes! To see wild elephants so flexible in their cognition and so capable of navigating new problems so quickly was really something.
Joshua Plotnik is an associate professor of psychology and director of the Animal Behavior & Conservation Graduate Programs at Hunter College. He leads Hunter’s Comparative Cognition for Conservation Lab, the only such facility in the world dedicated to the cognition of the Asian elephant. His research takes him from the Bronx Zoo to the forests of Thailand, where he seeks to understand the minds of these magnificent animals. We spoke with him about his journey, the truth behind common elephant myths, and the complexities of their conservation.