1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie, 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: what did your relationship with the elephant? Hmm? I kind 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: of think of them as this kind of ambassador to 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: the animal world, Like you know, especially for kids, it's 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: kind of like the gateway to wonderful creatures with what 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: we think of is quinde a few merits. Yeah, I 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: mean kids seem to be really obsessed with with elephants. 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: I mean my son especially is crazy for them. Yeah, 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: he'll see see a picture of an elephant and he'll 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: go elephant because he'll raise his arm like it's a 13 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: trunk and go trumpeting noise and and and we'll say 14 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: it multiple times. Sometimes he'll say it when there are 15 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: no elephants around, just in celebration of thinking about elephants. Yeah, 16 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: or yeah, thinking he's an elephant, or and then if 17 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: he actually gets to see one in real life, it's 18 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: just all the crazier. Um, you know, we're just looking 19 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: at pictures of me. It goes nuts. And indeed there 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: they're unlike any any animal. I mean, they are that 21 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: you have this this large lit the largest living land creature. Uh. 22 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: And and so they're they're imposing in that respect, but 23 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: they're also they have this peaceful air to them as well. 24 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: Most of the time. Uh. They have this this trunk 25 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: that is that that again is unlike like just about 26 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: anything else you see in the in the animal world. 27 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: And I think it's because that trunk is so expressive. Yes, 28 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: it does has a lot of emotion to it. It's 29 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: reaching around, it's grabbing things, it's uh, it's it's they're 30 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: manipulating water with it and uh. And their their eyes 31 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: are very peaceful as well. So there's that we can't 32 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: help but empathize with the elephant on on on a 33 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: very basic level. That there's something just kind of sweet 34 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: and comforting about them, and and children especially seen in 35 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: tune to this. Yeah. And in terms of folklore, they 36 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: have long been associated with courage and wisdom. In fact, 37 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: if you creativity, if you look get Hinduism, you'll see 38 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: the origin of the elephant as a symbol of good 39 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: luck Ganesha um, you know, the the luck god, the 40 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: remover of obstacles. Yep, I have a Ganesha right here. Bam, 41 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: always carry one in my pocket. You said, Oh my gosh, guys, 42 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: if you could see this, he just produced Ganesha just 43 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: threw it on the table proof. Okay, So yeah, I 44 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: mean these are really important to us, um, just as 45 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: an idea of what an animal is and has is 46 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: kind of a mirror to ourselves. I mean, we can't 47 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: help but empathize with them. Yeah, and humans, Uh, there 48 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: are many cases of humans forging strong emotional bonds with elephants, 49 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: uh and uh. And there are a number of wonderful 50 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: conservation efforts out there, and I mentioned some of those 51 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: at the end of the show. Um, particular efforts you 52 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: might be interested in reading more about and potentially supporting 53 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: in some shape or another. But in mentioning the conservation 54 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: and in mentioning the emotional bonds between human uh and 55 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: elephant that that kind of leads to the large number 56 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: of negatives here, because of course, when humans are interacting 57 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: on a daily basis with an elephant, it means that 58 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: that elephant is in captivity and perhaps used for labor, 59 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: perhaps uh put an enclosure in a zoo. Generally that's 60 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: gonna be way too small for it. When we're talking 61 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: about conservation efforts. Those conservation efforts are in place due 62 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: to the what we have done to the to the 63 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: elephants natural habitat and what we have done to decrease 64 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: their numbers in the wild. Yeah, so a couple of things. So, 65 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: as you already mentioned, there's the captivity angle, and so 66 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: we typically see an elephant at the zoo right and 67 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: Fred Berkovitch of the Sandy Zoo rightes that in Africa, 68 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: elephants can cover over fifty miles or eighty kilometers in 69 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: a day if food is scarce, but rarely walk that far. 70 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: More often they cover a few miles during the day, 71 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: and they sometimes spend most of their time near water source. 72 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: Now contrast that with twenty two hundred square feet. That 73 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: is the amount of space that is recommended by the 74 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: American Zoological Association. Joyce Pool, she is the research director 75 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: of the Ambo Celly Elephant Research Project, rights, just a 76 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: thought by a z A logic, that's the Zoological Association. 77 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,679 Speaker 1: We might suggest that human beings, being about two percent 78 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: the body weight and of an elephant, would do just 79 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: find living in forty four square feet if we were 80 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: provided food, water, and a breeding partner. So we began 81 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 1: to look at that, and then you began to look 82 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: at the whole poaching situation. And consider that we have 83 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: lost six of force elephants in the Congo basin due 84 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: to poaching during the first decade of this century. And 85 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: she says at that rate, they could go extinct in 86 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: ten years. And then we of course have seen the 87 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: recent violence in the Central African republic Um and that 88 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: is there's a ton of poaching going on there just 89 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: to fund military operations. Yeah, and then you have plenty 90 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: of examples to of elephants coming into conflict with with 91 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: farmers because here you have and it's a tough situation, 92 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: because you have you have farmers that are trying to 93 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: to to a farm the small area of land, grow 94 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: crops uh to to feed their family, make money. And 95 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: then the elephants come through. The elephants. Each adult elephant 96 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: is gonna need some of three four hundred pounds of 97 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 1: food per day, and they're going to make short work 98 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: of a small human farm uh. And then and there 99 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: they tend to be pretty destructive in their in their 100 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: their style of eating. If you've ever seen a footage 101 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: of elephants, you know, just pushing over trees to get 102 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: to the to the greens. Uh. You know, that's that's 103 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: their style, and so they can they can really care 104 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: a farm apart in in very short order. So you 105 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: end up with with humans and uh and and elephants 106 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: coming into conflict in that situation. Yeah, and that's habit lost, right. 107 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: I mean, you would probably do the same thing if 108 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: you lost a good deal of your land, you would 109 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: move on to another area. And then of course that's 110 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: where the conflict with humans comes into play. Yeah, though, 111 00:05:58,240 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: I mean, because they tend to eat grass as lee, 112 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: these bamboo bark roots. But if there's a crop of bananas, 113 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: if there's a crop of sugarcane or what have you, 114 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: you know they're going to go for that. Um. Now, 115 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: it's to put the throughout a few more numbers here 116 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,799 Speaker 1: to just put this in the in perspective about about 117 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: where elephant populations are. According to Defenders of Wildlife, at 118 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: the turn of the twentieth century, there were a few 119 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: million African elephants in about a hundred thousand Asian elephants um. 120 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,119 Speaker 1: Today they are in estimated four hundred and fifty thousand 121 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: to seven hundred thousand African elephants in between thirty five 122 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 1: thousand and forty thousand wild Asian elephants, with the with 123 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 1: the Asian elephant being you know, far more on the 124 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: endangered into the spectrum. Yeah, and we should keep in 125 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: mind to that the average lifespan of an elephant in 126 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: the wild is sixty to seventy years UM. So when 127 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: we start to think about that, and we we begin 128 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: to see them, um the devastating effects of poaching and 129 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: habitat loss in captivity in some areas, then you can't 130 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: help but anthropomorphize them and begin to think, oh, they 131 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: live for seventy years on par with what humans are living. 132 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: To you know, what else is similar to humans? How else, um, 133 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: do they really differ from other mammals? Now I mentioned 134 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: African and Asian elephants earlier. That's an important distinction. There 135 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,239 Speaker 1: are two major species of elephant. There's the African elephant, 136 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: and we can divide those into two subspecies, the savannah 137 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: and the forest. And while the the Asian elephant, on 138 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: the other hand, we can divide that into four subspecies 139 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumatran, and borneo. Now, how can you 140 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: tell one from the other, Well, it's pretty simple. Once 141 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: it's been pointed out to you, Julie, Well, this is 142 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: kind of neat the African elephants actually their ears are 143 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: shaped like the continent of Africa. And then of course 144 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: with the Asian elephants, their ears are smaller. Yeah. The 145 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: the African elephants ears look like they're made for sailing 146 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: on the high seas, and the Asian elephants ears are 147 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: are more sort of floppy and subdued and smaller. Yeah. 148 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: You know, it's really cool about those ears too. Is 149 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: besides being able to pick up on bois and sound, 150 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: they have tons of tiny veins that transact their surfaces 151 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: and they carry blood to the rest of the body 152 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: and they act like a cooling system. Yeah, it's really 153 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: really amazing elephants here is is essentially there to cool 154 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: the body. Uh. It's kind of like the big fins 155 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: you would see in some of these prehistoric dinosaurs, you know, 156 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: where they it's all about getting the blood vessels up 157 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: into a surface they can be used to cool. Yeah. 158 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: So if you see them flapping their ears over over 159 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: again on a hot day, that's them just trying to 160 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: cool themselves down. And of course they're trunks, their trunks yes, yeah, 161 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,719 Speaker 1: when they're when they're born, you have I mean, we're 162 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: talking about how how instantly we attach emotionally to elephants, 163 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: even more so if you see a baby elephant, baby 164 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: elephant is among the most adorable things you could possibly 165 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: look at. And uh, when they're born, though, their trunks 166 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: don't really have any muscle tones, so they just kind 167 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: of flop around and then they're having only nurse straight 168 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: up with their mouths. Yeah, and they're just again we 169 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: talked about it before, they're so adaptable. Those those trunks 170 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: they're used to smell, to eve, to drink, to retrieve food, 171 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: to trumpet and as we'll talk a little bit more 172 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: about in a second caress, but before we do so, 173 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:13,439 Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about elephant intelligence. Yes, elephants are, 174 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: of course extremely intelligent. They have they have memories that 175 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: span years. That wold adage and elephant member it never 176 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: forgets well, it's it's based in truth. They have they 177 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: have long memories and they need those long memories because 178 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: you know, we mentioned earlier about how about how vast 179 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: there range tends to be. So you'll have a herd 180 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: of elephants it's led by a matriarch, and they're having 181 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: to go across vast stretches of land, and they're gonna 182 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: have to remember like where's the water, Where's where's the 183 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: good food? Where they where the good eats? Where should 184 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: I not go? Like where's an area that might be 185 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: h certain death? Uh you know to uh to venture into? 186 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: And as you say, that requires quite a bit of memory. Um. 187 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: It turns out the elephants can hear one another's trumpeting 188 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: calls up to five miles or eight kilometers away. In 189 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: according to biologists Grea Turkolo, who is part of the 190 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: Elephant Listening Project, a very very cool project. The females 191 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: do most of the talking. There's no syntax in their language, 192 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: so there's no evidence that they form sentences, but they 193 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: can recognize each other's voices. In fact, uh, they can 194 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: identify at least one hundred other individual elephants by voice. 195 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: And this was borne out in a sound playback experiment 196 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: by Karen McComb, who is an animal psychologist at the 197 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: University of Sussex in the UK. Now, one interesting thing 198 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: about those trumpeting communications that the elephants use. Um, they 199 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: can communicate over these long distances also by producing a 200 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: sub sonic rumble. They can travel through the ground faster 201 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: than through the air. You know, there's have you ever 202 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: seen like an old Western where like any of American 203 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: trackers putting putting his ear to the ground, you know, 204 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: because because sound waves are going to move faster through 205 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,079 Speaker 1: the ground. Uh, it's similar situation. So other elephants then 206 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 1: receive the messages through the sensitive skin on their feet 207 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: and on their trunks, and it's a belief this is 208 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: how potential mates and social groups communicate. Yeah, and just 209 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: so you know how sensitive their skin is, they can 210 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,720 Speaker 1: detect a fly landing on it. So there's quite a 211 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: level of um sensitivity there. And I want to tell 212 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: us I mentioned the Elephant Listening program has been in 213 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,559 Speaker 1: the work since has delivered some really intriguing data on 214 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: elephant communication that really helps us to better understand the 215 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: social bonds the elephants have with one another. Now, in 216 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: terms of numerical skills, elephants actually outperform great apes, chips 217 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,960 Speaker 1: and human children at the task of figuring out the 218 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: quantity of something that is put in a bucket. And 219 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: in fact that their understanding or their numbers sense is 220 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: so nuanced that they can easily tell the difference between 221 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: five and six rocks, for instance, um as opposed to 222 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: something pretty easy like one and two. Now that's interesting 223 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,880 Speaker 1: because we've talked in the past about the algorithmic thinking 224 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 1: in young children and their their way of understanding numbers 225 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: is that they might not be able to tell the 226 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: difference between five and six, they can tell the difference 227 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: between six and three. I've got three, um, you know, 228 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: three cheerios is definitely less than six, but five cheers 229 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: as the six cheerios. I don't know. I'll just take 230 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: whichever hand is you know comes out to me first. 231 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean elephants can distinguish to that degree. 232 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing. Now, that's one way to look at 233 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 1: an elephant intelligence. But but to really get into the 234 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 1: guts of it, you have to start looking at their society, 235 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: and they're there in their communication within that society. Yeah. Really, 236 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: at the core of elephant society, we're talking about matriarchs 237 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: who are the oldest elephants and families with complex social relationships. Yeah, 238 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: you'll have a herd that is it's led by the oldest, 239 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: often the largest female. Uh, and it's just going to 240 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: be an all female herd with some young ones in 241 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: there that they're all sort of collectively looking after, though 242 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: of course with the with the actual mom for that 243 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 1: providing most of the the care and assistance. Meanwhile, the 244 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: male elephants, they tend to be just loners out there 245 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: roaming on their own. Occasionally they'll take up with another 246 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: male or so, Yeah, you get some bachelor pods from 247 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: time to time, but for the most part, it's just 248 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: you know, they're they're doing their own thing. And it 249 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: kind of comes back to what we've talked about before 250 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 1: when it comes to the gender divide in in a species, 251 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: that the female is the species and the male is 252 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: just necessary for reproduction. Well, it's kind of the whole 253 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: takes the village concept because the females typically remain with 254 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: their families their whole lives, and they rear their calves 255 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: alongside their mother's grandmother's sisters and aunts, and they all 256 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: helped to take care of the calves um. And this 257 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: is really cool to these elephant families are really fluid 258 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: in their association patterns, meaning that not all members are 259 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: together all of the time. So if a food sources scares, 260 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: that means that a couple of them might pair off 261 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: and then meet up later on. And you know, it 262 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: works out for genetic diversity that the males are separate anyway, 263 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: because you can have this, you know, a close net 264 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: grew of females that are all related. Uh, you need 265 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: the genes, you need some extra genes to come in 266 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: from outside of that community. And thus these uh, these 267 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: loaners out there on the outskirts. Yeah, and it's also 268 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: interesting that the females do do a lot of the talking, 269 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 1: and I think that ties back to the matriarch and 270 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: again the raising of the calves. So of course it 271 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: would make sense that among elephants chatter, you hear more 272 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: female voices trying to coordinate what they're gonna do, when 273 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: they're going to do it, and particularly the matriarch. If 274 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: if there's uh, if food is scarce and they really 275 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: have to figure out directions and where they're going to go, 276 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: then the matriarch is usually a person who tries to 277 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: coordinate that effort. Now, of course, one part of being 278 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 1: um in a community of humans is that we are 279 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: self aware of our our place in that community and uh, 280 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: and it seems that that it's a similar situation for 281 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: the elephant. Elephant is one of the very few creatures 282 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,440 Speaker 1: aside from humans, that can pass a self awareness test. 283 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: We've talked about this in the past, I believe, with 284 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: a few other animals, but the elephants can recognize themselves 285 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: in a mirror. The only other animals that can really 286 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: pull this off humans apes, dolphins, And if you understand, 287 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: based on some arguments, you could say that an octopus 288 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: can do this, but you have to have a very 289 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: different type of tests for them because their brains are 290 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: so different and and even among you know, humans, apes 291 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: and elephants, I mean, the elephant's brain is different from 292 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: an ape or a humans brain, uh in in in 293 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: some respects. You know, it's as you can never do 294 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: a one to one when you're comparing the human brain 295 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: to another species. But when they when they look at 296 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: themselves in the mirror, they quickly realize that that they 297 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: are looking at themselves. They'll look behind the mirror and 298 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: then it will quickly descend into them sort of goofing off. 299 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: Like what happens if I put my trunk in my 300 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: mouth while I'm looking in the mirror? What do I 301 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: do this? What do I do that? Yeah, but it's 302 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: essential to note that they are self aware. They're not 303 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: just uh, you know this this animal out there sort 304 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: of encased in the mud of of existence. They know 305 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: they exist and and that should really carry more way 306 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: when we think about what elephants are and how we 307 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: interact with them. All right, we're gonna take a quick break, 308 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: but when we get back, we are going to talk 309 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: about this self awareness, this sort of society um is 310 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: rich bonds the elephants have, and how they actually exhibit 311 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: a very human phenomenon called emotional contagion. All right, we're back. 312 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: Emotional contagion. We we see different examples of this with 313 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: humans over and over again. It can be, you know, 314 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: at a party and there's this emotional contagion going on, 315 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: depending on you know, how someone is is acting and 316 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: how people are looking to others um to respond to that. 317 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: Should they join in on whatever behavior is being exhibited? 318 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I think we've all definitely been a part 319 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: of the sort of social conversations where the conversation is, uh, 320 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: isn't as kind of a medium zone, and then somebody 321 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: kind of takes the wheel and it's increasingly going into 322 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: uncomfortable territory and you feel that need to to step 323 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: in and change the subject move you know, pulled up, 324 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: pull the vehicle back on the road. Yeah. And so 325 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: what you see here is that this, this very kind 326 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: of human thing is happening among elephants, this emotional contagion. 327 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: Researcher Josh Plotnik of the University of Cambridge in the 328 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: UK studied the behavior of twenty six elephants in captivity 329 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: over the course of year, and he found that when 330 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: an elephant would show distress, the other elephants would a 331 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: doubt that same emotional state. An example of this distress 332 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: would be in this case, like thinking they saw a 333 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: snake in the grass, you know, something that's a definite, 334 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: uh potential danger to the the the elephant community, and 335 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: they're going to react, and then that emotional state quickly 336 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: spreads to the other elephants. You're concerned, why I'm concerned 337 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: to what are you concerned about? And they would act 338 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: just as a human would. They they swiftly go to 339 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: each other, right, and they touch each other's faces and 340 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: I don't think humans do this genitals, and they put 341 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: trunks in each other's mouth and they chirp their w 342 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,919 Speaker 1: You're trying to make some very soothing chirping noises to 343 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: say it's all right. Yeah, And this is really important 344 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: because you know, there are a number of cases of 345 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: observed empathy in elephants. There's a two thousand three study 346 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: from Catherine Paine's Elephant Listening projects we mentioned earlier observed 347 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,440 Speaker 1: a dying calf like numerous responses both from its own 348 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: family and others in the herd. Uh. There's a two 349 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: thousand six paper that looked at the behavioral reactions of 350 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: elephants towards a dying and decease matriarch um. But this, uh, 351 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: this this empathy study with these twenty six captive elephants. Uh, 352 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: it provides us a little like more sort of hard 353 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: evidence for uh empathy, for this emotional contagion and uh 354 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,640 Speaker 1: and and you need that because again we talked about 355 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: how we talked before about how humans anthropomorphizes anything, and 356 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,920 Speaker 1: there's always there's already a lot that's that's that's human 357 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: like in the elephant. So we have to be careful 358 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: in steadying them, not to just keep on the rest 359 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: of our human baggage and starting, you know, putting on 360 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: little hats. Yeah, I know, I was thinking about that. 361 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: I was just thinking about our pensant for just trying 362 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: to turn anything into a smile life face, even if 363 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,800 Speaker 1: it's an inanimate object. But then I thought too, in 364 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: some of these cases, it's so very clear that the behavior, 365 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: it seems very clear that the behavior is spelling out 366 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: these sort of community bonded social phenomena that you would 367 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 1: see and within humans, within the human tribe um. But again, 368 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: it's very difficult to quantify that in a scientific way. Um. 369 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: And that's why, as you say, this experiment with the 370 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: twenty six elephants is so important, because it does give 371 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,880 Speaker 1: a scientific community some sort of foothold in that arena. 372 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: But it's it's hard to re enact a lot of 373 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: what people anecdotally see. And one of the things that 374 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: I'm thinking about is this idea of grieving elephants, and 375 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,879 Speaker 1: not just elephants grieving for one another, but this case 376 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: of someone named Lawrence Anthony. Now he was a conservationist 377 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: and an author known as the elephant Whisperer, and in 378 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,719 Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve he had a heart attack. Now, 379 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: he had taken a group of wild elephants and he 380 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,439 Speaker 1: had rescued them and rehabilitated them on the day that 381 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: he died. They traveled something like twelve hours to reach 382 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: his house and they had not been to his home 383 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen months. And so of course people who saw 384 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: this began to construe this as the elephants keeping vigil. 385 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,440 Speaker 1: They actually hung out for two days at his home. 386 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 1: And again the problem here is how do you take 387 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: a scientific lens to this. You can't. You can't re 388 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: enact this experiment, right, And I mean, if you were gonna, 389 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: you know, to play the critic here, you could say, well, 390 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:48,719 Speaker 1: the elephants move around a lot anyway, and if they 391 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 1: have long memories, as we as we mentioned earlier, so 392 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: it's in you know, of course they would come back 393 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 1: to a place they'd been to before, where they had 394 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: presumably received you know, some comfort, maybe maybe even food, 395 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:06,120 Speaker 1: what have you. That's true. And another interesting account involving 396 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: memory in place has to do with South Africa in 397 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: the late twentieth century at Kruger National Park. Yes, that's 398 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: where they were calling the elephant population, so that they 399 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: were having some attempt to conserve the elephant. But they 400 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,439 Speaker 1: were afraid that if the the elephant population grew too large, 401 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: then it would be increasingly difficult to look after them. 402 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: So they went in there and they started calling, you know, 403 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: whole groups of elephants. And they found that after this 404 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: had happened, after the blood had hit the ground, uh, 405 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: that the the elephant families in the park UH knew 406 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: not to go back there. Like they they equated that 407 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: area with death and with danger. Even if that area 408 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: was ended up having some very tempting vegetation, they knew that. 409 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: All right, the food looks good there, but that is 410 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: a place of death. That is where the humans kill us. 411 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: Yet now, immediately after the calling operation UM, and this 412 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: was actually after the rangers cleaned up the area and 413 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: they removed all the bodies, the elephant families did come 414 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: to the scene and they inspected it. They smelled the earth, 415 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,360 Speaker 1: and then they say they never returned to that, as 416 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: you say, And so some of the ideas here are well, 417 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: perhaps the screams of terror were the tip off here, 418 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,919 Speaker 1: and of course the smell would have been another tip off. 419 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, again, even when it was a habitable area, 420 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,920 Speaker 1: they never went back to it. It was as if 421 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,120 Speaker 1: that earth had been stained and they knew it. Yeah, 422 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: the earth has been stained. That's that's the uh. That's 423 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: the the what really has been driven home from me 424 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:39,120 Speaker 1: as we've researched this this podcast, because in the elephant, 425 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: you have a creature that is self aware, that is 426 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: capable of empathy. It has a very strong argument for personhood. 427 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: Like when we're talking about um giving a level of 428 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: of of of rights that we ascribed to to to 429 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: a human if we were to ascribe that outside of 430 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: the human community, like the elephant would, uh would be 431 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: a certifiable candidate for that. And yet we have treated 432 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: them so harshly throughout human history and continue to treat 433 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,080 Speaker 1: them harshly today, even though again we have some wonderful 434 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:14,959 Speaker 1: conservation programs, some wonderful efforts out there, and there are 435 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: some people who devote their lives to caring for elephants 436 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: and uh and to changing the you know, the course 437 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,199 Speaker 1: of their fate. But UH, it's it's rough when you 438 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,000 Speaker 1: when you really look at what they are and how 439 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: we've treated them well. And the problem, I think is 440 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: that in order for for elephants to continue to exist 441 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: on Earth, humans really have to change their behavior. And 442 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: it's not just humans stopping poaching it. It's all tied 443 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: to politics and to socioeconomics as well, and again to 444 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 1: our a really bad habit of taking land and converting 445 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 1: it for for uses that really, in the long run 446 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: aren't going to do us any good and aren't going 447 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: to do wildlife any good. Yeah, and now they're on 448 00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: the farmland front, there have been some efforts who use 449 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: sort of like like spice compounds to treat the area 450 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: around farms to keep the to keep the elephants from 451 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: coming in and eating the crops. And apparently those those 452 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: efforts have proven pretty successful where they've been applied. Yeah, 453 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,400 Speaker 1: And I mean there, as you said, there are conservation 454 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: groups that are doing a great job, and we should 455 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: definitely mention them because I think that this is going 456 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: to make the difference in the long run about what 457 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: we can do about the situation. Yeah, and there I 458 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: did need to stress they're more elephant organizations out there 459 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,720 Speaker 1: than we really have have time to mention here, But 460 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 1: I just want to highlight a few that stood out 461 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: to me. The first I'm going to mention because it's uh, 462 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,160 Speaker 1: it exists in my home state of Tennessee. The Elephants 463 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,280 Speaker 1: Sanctuary in Holding Wall in Tennessee. It's a sanctuary for 464 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: captive elephants, you know, elephants that have been in zoos, 465 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 1: elephants that have been in circuses, etcetera. They have seven 466 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: hundred acres and they provide three separate and protected natural 467 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: habitat environments for Asian and African elephants. If you want 468 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: to learn more about this, you go to www. Dot 469 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: elephants dot com. They have a wonderful website. You can 470 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: you can see pro whiles on the individual elephants. You 471 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: can adopt an elephant, you can you know, you can 472 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: contribute to monetarily to help feed the various elephants. It's 473 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: a it's a wonderful project. Also check out the African 474 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: Wildlife Fund at a WF dot org. Check out Save 475 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: the Elephants had Saved the Elephants dot org and just 476 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: one Asian elephants specific organization there is Elephant Family dot org. 477 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: I wanted to share two quick personal stories. Okay, I 478 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: worked at a zoo once. I think we all know that. Yes, 479 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 1: And on April Fool's Day, without fail, you would get 480 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: a million phone calls and do you know what people 481 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: would say that the elephants are loose? No, it would say, 482 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: may I speak with Ellie and you would say Ellie who, 483 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: and they would say font over and over again. The 484 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: second thing is that when a while I worked there, 485 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: I had a reoccurring nightmare of elephants just stampeding the 486 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: entire zoo. And I think that the guy the lead 487 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: singer for Aerosmith, Steven Tyler, even Tyler even showed up 488 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: like like leading it, like riding one of the elephants. 489 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 1: And that's when I kind of knew that I might 490 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: be having some sort of moral crisis when it came 491 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: to captivity and animals, you know, just not to to 492 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 1: just really pound in our crimes against elephants too much. 493 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: But that of course brings up another example of something 494 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: horrible we've done through the elephants over the years is 495 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: used them in warfare. Liken, Like, how awful is that? Like? 496 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: Here is warfare? This this this particularly human creation where 497 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: we have one group trying to not only compete for resources, 498 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: but to outright destroy other communities. And we've enlisted other 499 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: animal species in this, not only horses, but the the 500 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: self aware empathic elephant. Yeah, it is really tragic and um, 501 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: and I should mention because really I still am on 502 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:57,959 Speaker 1: the fence about Zeus and we could probably do an 503 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: entire episode about that. It Uh, you know that the 504 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 1: zookeepers there are absolutely passionate about those animals, and they 505 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: do take a lot of the money and they put 506 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: them into um species survival programs for various animals, including elephants, 507 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: elephants um and some people would say that you might 508 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: not even know what an elephant was unless we had 509 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 1: zoos or many other animals. So, um, you know again 510 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: on the fence about that, Yeah, it's it's it's a 511 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: weird area to find yourself in because like with my 512 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,239 Speaker 1: own son, again, he's crazy about elephants, so how can 513 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: we not take him to the zoo to see the elephants. 514 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: But at the same time we we it just feels 515 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: so sad to see them in such a small enclosure. 516 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: But it kind of underlines the whole situation with elephants. 517 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: We find ourselves in this place where we've we've already 518 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: taken so much of their habitat, we've reduced their numbers, 519 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: we've we've enslaved them for our own purposes, and we 520 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: have to we're slowly waking up and realizing, well, what 521 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,560 Speaker 1: can we do to make the best of this already 522 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: crappy situation. Yeah, and really I think they come to 523 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: symbolize the inherent problem that humans have with animals, that 524 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,680 Speaker 1: complex relationship that we've talked about, particularly when we've referenced 525 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: the books Some some we eat, some we love, and 526 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 1: some we hate, and the ways that we behave toward animals. 527 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: All Right, So there you have it, uh, a little 528 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: insight into the world of the elephant, of the mind 529 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: of the elephant, and the empathy of the elephant, and 530 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: our empathy for the elephant. If you have some information 531 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: you would like to share with us, you want to 532 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: share an elephant story that that you know particularly resonates 533 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: with you, your own experience with elephants, or what you 534 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: you personally think about the any of the information we've 535 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: discussed here today. You can reach out to us in 536 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: a number of different ways. As always, go to stuff 537 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. That's where you will 538 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: find our blog posts, you'll find our our videos. You'll 539 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: find every podcast episode dating back to the very beginning, 540 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: as well as links out to all of our social 541 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: media accounts. We have Facebook, we have Twitter, we have Tumbler, 542 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: we have Google Plus, where mind Stuff Show on YouTube 543 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: be sure to follow that account if you want to 544 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: continue to see video projects from us. And also we're 545 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: on SoundCloud. I mean, there's a whole list of things 546 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: you can check it out. Stuff the Way Your Mind 547 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: dot com and uh, I think there's another way you 548 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: can reach and get in touch with us as well 549 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: and does not involve trumpeting and listening to the ground, 550 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: although if you want to record some sort of files 551 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: of trumpeting noises that you would like to make do 552 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: you can do so, and you can include your thoughts 553 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: about today's episode or any other episodes and send them 554 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: via email to blow the Mind at Discovery dot com 555 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: for more on this and thousands of other topics. Because 556 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com