According to Aristotle, the elephant was the animal that all surpassed by mind and wit, and the numerous studies on it seem to confirm the hypothesis.
The elephant is the terrestrial animal with the largest brain; The hippocampus region, connected to the ability to experience emotions, is proportionally larger even than humans.
Some researchers have observed in the cological flashback elephants , or the ability to recall unpleasant incidents occurring in the past and to suffer in the present.
Cynthia Moss, a naturalist and director of the elephant research center at Amboseli (Kenya), reported in his books episodes in which these animals were observed while burial their dead, using earth, branches and leaves.
Martin Meredith (researcher) described the case of a "funeral" between elephants lasting up to 2 days, with attached burial; The episode is reported in his book "Elephant Destiny: Biography of an Endangered Species in Africa".
There have been cases where the pachyderms covered with leaves and branches also dead bodies of humans; Some elephants had even covered the body of a sleepy woman, probably exchanging it for a corpse (Meredith).
Elephants can also use instruments found in nature or pack them yourself; One of them was observed while, after digging a hole in the ground for drinking, covered the hole with a chewed bark ball to avoid evaporation, and later came back to drink.
They are also capable of artistic activities, such as painting abstract paintings or playing and listening to music; One of these paintings was compared to Jason Pollock and sold for $ 25,000.
Pachyderms also know how to solve problems: they were observed while releasing chains used to hold them in a cage, once they understood the functioning of their mechanism.
They can also count; In a test where they had to choose between two containers full of similar apples, they chose the container with more apples in 75% of the cases.
They are also able to recognize their image in a mirror, shared in common with some primates, dolphins, and some species of maggots.
This would demonstrate their ability to be self-conscious at a very high level, and contributed to the indignation of environmentalists towards all forms of abuse.
In particular, in Kruger National Park (South Africa), the practice of breaking elephants to control the now exuberant population was criticized; An activist asserted, "The elephant is such an animal so intelligent, intelligent, social, and empathic, that killing him is comparable to a murder."
