How Far Does The Memory Of The Elephant Reach?
It has always been said that “you have an elephant memory” alluding to the fact that elephants seem to have a memory unmatched in any other animal. But how far does the memory of the elephant go? Is it true that you are able to remember everything? Today we want to talk to you more about this topic, are you interested?
The tale of the elephant and the chair
It is said that you can tie an adult elephant to a chair and it will not move. Can’t an elephant move a chair? Of course yes! Why doesn’t he do it then and what does this have to do with his memory?
Well, young elephants to be trained are tied with a chain to a large nail buried in the ground or even to a tree. It is clear that this is not a pleasant position for anyone, and not for the elephant, so it will try by all means to untie itself and get out of that situation.
Every time he flushes he hurts himself, and he tries over and over again feeling frustrated because he gets nothing. What do you do then? Give up and try no more. This fact remains in his memory forever and, when he is tied, regardless of where, he no longer tries to untie himself because he knows he cannot. He has given up.
This is why an elephant tied to a chair will not move, even if tied to a small stone it will not move either. He remembers the fact that having a chain on your leg is something you can’t change; his memory plays a trick on him in this case.
The memory of the elephant seems infinite
They say that if you hurt an elephant he will never forget it. What is true in here? It seems that scientists are still fascinated by the elephant’s memory, which they have not yet been able to decipher.
It is believed that the size and composition of your brain comes into play. Elephants are capable of displaying great emotions such as joy, pain or mourning, and they learn new things easily. They can even imitate sounds! Scientists have come to the conclusion that such a brutal handling of so many emotions and facts has to do with your brain without a doubt,
Although for years it was believed that only the size of the brain influenced the intelligence and memory of elephants, this did not make much sense, since that of a whale is infinitely larger and does not reflect the same qualities.
Therefore, something different from other species must have been in his brain. Its neocortex is very complex and similar to that of humans, apes and dolphins, with a thick cortex and a high concentration of neurons. This does make more sense, don’t you think?
The high development of its hippocampus directly influences the fact that the elephant can remember and express past emotions, as well as suffer from post-traumatic stress. Elephants are believed to mourn their dead and even mourn for a certain time, something that does not happen with the vast majority of species.
In fact, this act has only been known in humans, whom the elephants seem to imitate by doing a burial ceremony for the dead elephant, as well as showing respect when passing by the place where one has already been buried for a long time. Amazing!
Their memory also allows them to learn survival actions in the first years of their life, just as it happens with human beings. Once the lessons are learned, they remember them for life.
Therefore, how far does the memory of the elephant go? Well, until the end of his life. When something happens to an elephant that is etched in its memory, it is an indelible memory. For this reason, they have shown negative attitudes towards smells of clothes and utensils of a tribe that killed elephants as a symbol of virility. So remember: don’t hurt an elephant, because he will never forget it.
