14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new scientific investigation by researchers at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, it would appear that elephants are capable of sensing when one of their own is distressed. Whenever this happens, the majestic pachyderms console the sufferer by touching them, or by talking to them.
This study demonstrates that elephants are capable of two distinctly human traits, which are empathy and the ability to reassure someone that everything is going to be OK. Over the past 50 years, researches have shown that elephants are extremely social and empathic animals.
They are able to form very strong groups, held together by social bonds that do not break over decades. They are also the only species of animals that mourns their dead, and pay tribute to one another's lives. The new study again proved this to be true, based on data collected from elephants in Thailand.
The investigation was led by Cambridge researcher Josh Plotnik, who says that elephants are able to console one another by touching each other's faces. A similar behavior is clearly visible in primates as well, where chimpanzees use their hands to cover the mouths of chimps that are not doing to good, The Huffington Post reports.