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Elephants are problem solvers by nature and many have come up with ideas to do things like use their tusks to dig for water, look for specific roots and plants that might have medicinal properties, and use tools such as sticks and rocks to help them with tasks. They also tend to be naturally curious, which they’ve proven here at the sanctuary when (among other things) they once disassembled a water trough that was in the process of being built. But our understanding of the full spectrum of their intelligence still has plenty of room to grow.

A study in the journal Animal Behavior dives into a six-month experiment documenting the abilities of wild Asian elephants to find where food was kept by solving puzzles to unlock storage boxes. The researchers used motion-activated cameras to observe 77 elephants who approached the multi-compartmental food containers and attempted to find ways to open them and get the fragrant jackfruit stored inside. 

Depending on the section of the box where the jackfruit was placed, it could be accessed by pulling a chain to open a door, pushing a door to swing it open, or sliding a door open to reach the fruit. The elephants had to figure out not only where the food was located, but also how to open that specific door. 

Over the course of a few months, 44 of the 77 elephants who came into contact with the boxes interacted with them, but in a number of different ways–some successful and some not. The elephants who interacted with the puzzles more often and seemingly with more interest, tended to have the highest rates of success. Overall, 11 of those 44 elephants were able to solve one of the puzzle boxes, 8 figured out how to open two of the boxes, and 5 elephants successfully got food by completing all three different puzzles. 

This study suggests that elephants are willing to experiment for new solutions to problems they come across in nature. The higher the number of elephants in a herd who have this problem-solving mind, the more innovative the group as a whole could potentially be. That could directly impact their ability to survive in a changing environment. The results may play a role in developing conservation plans, and strategies to prevent human-elephant conflict, which is only growing more frequent as wild habitats diminish. 

To read more, and to see a photo and video of elephants in the study, visit the link here:

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/news/wild-asian-elephants-display-unique-puzzle-solving-skills