{"id":5723,"date":"2011-08-23T17:17:36","date_gmt":"2011-08-23T21:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/?p=5723"},"modified":"2011-08-23T17:17:36","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T21:17:36","slug":"a-problem-solving-pachyderm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/2011\/08\/23\/a-problem-solving-pachyderm\/","title":{"rendered":"A problem-solving &#8216;pachyderm&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog-preprod\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-5727 img-fluid\" title=\"Kandula, the National Zoo's Asian elephant \" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"579\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/90\/2011\/08\/elephant-pic1-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 579px) 100vw, 579px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s not quite evidence of a mastery of long division, zoologists have recently reported that a juvenile Asian elephant has demonstrated rudimentary problem-solving techniques.<\/p>\n<p>According to Preston Foerder, the lead author of the new study, elephants had previously failed at problem-solving exercises because they were tested as if they were primates, being asked to use their trunks to hold sticks as we would do with our hands. Since elephant trunks, while capable of holding items, are primarily used for smelling and eating, Foerder tried an alternative route \u2013 one that would enable the animal to use its senses without being handicapped by compromising the trunk\u2019s natural use.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\" data-video-type=\"youtube\"><iframe class=\"embed-responsive-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TkkkXsg8RMk?modestbranding=0&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;enablejsapi=1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Zoologists termed the animal\u2019s first reported problem-solving success its \u201cEureka\u201d moment. At the Smithsonian National Zoo (Washington, DC), three elephants \u2013 a 33-year-old female, a 61-year-old female, and a seven-year-old juvenile male named Kandula \u2013 were individually tested. During the trial, a branch was baited with food but was hung just out of \u201ctrunk\u2019s reach;\u201d however, a nearby box was available \u2013 one that the animals could move with their front feet (if they chose to) and that was also strong enough to support their weight. Although all three of the elephants had been previously trained to stand on the cube, it was Kandula who dragged the box beneath the branch to reach the food and got it on his seventh try.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original <a href=\"http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/sciencenow\/2011\/08\/aha-elephants-can-use-insight-to.html\">press release<\/a> \u201cAha! Elephants can use insight to solve problems\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/26686573@N00\/2684290574\/lightbox\/\">Brit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although it\u2019s not quite evidence of a mastery of long division, zoologists have recently reported that a juvenile Asian elephant has demonstrated rudimentary problem-solving techniques. According to Preston Foerder, the lead author of the new study, elephants had previously failed at problem-solving exercises because they were tested as if they were primates, being asked to use their trunks to hold&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[538,1249,63,473,165],"class_list":["post-5723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","tag-ecology","tag-elephant","tag-endangered-species","tag-esa","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/esablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}