Are Elephants self aware ?
From Aunty
“Elephants can recognise their own reflection, showing self-awareness seen before only in humans, great apes and bottlenose dolphins.”
“One of the animals repeatedly touched a white cross painted on her forehead - a classic test used to assess mirror self-recognition in children and apes.”
“We see highly complex behaviours such as self awareness and self-other distinction in intelligent animals with well-established social systems“
“Many animals will respond to a mirror but very few show any evidence that they recognise themselves in the reflection.”
“Canines, for example, will react to the “other dog” and will even look behind the mirror to try to find it.“
“One of the elephants began repeatedly touching a painted `X` on her head with her trunk”
“The mark could only be seen in the mirror, and the elephant ignored another mark made with colourless paint that was also on her forehead to ensure she was not merely reacting to a smell or feeling.”
“While only one elephant passed the mark-touching test, the researchers note that fewer than half of chimpanzees tested typically pass this test”