Elephants Used 38 Unique Gestures to Ask for Apples And Scientists Are Still Decoding What They All Mean

Humans can interact with each other using language and other perceivable methods, but what about animals? What do animals do when they need to communicate their needs to humans? Some light was shed on this question with an exercise conducted on elephants, as reported by IFL Science. Through the exercise, researchers wanted to see what gestures this mammal could use to achieve goals. The goal for this activity was to get an apple from their human companion. The results also proved that elephants make their gestures knowingly, for a certain purpose. Findings regarding this exercise were published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. 

Gestures for Communication

Before this exercise, it was not comprehensively proven that elephants used gestures for goal-directed pursuits. In the past, experts had determined that these animals used a combination of behaviors like trunk swinging, tail waggling, and ear flapping to "talk" with each other, according to Science. However, whether these gestures or others could be used by elephants to communicate their specific desires was difficult to understand. This kind of behavior is called goal-directed intentionality. For this kind of behavior, several factors are necessary, such as an attentive audience, persistence in using the gestures to fulfill a need, and changing the signals when previous gestures have failed. 

Apple Exercise

The exercise was conducted on a population of African savanna elephants from Zimbabwe. The group was living in Victoria Falls National Park during the assessment. They were presented with two trays, one full of apples and the other empty. Access to the plates was given to a human experimenter, who also interacted with the elephants. It made the experimenter an attentive audience, who could be a possible receiver of elephants' gestures. Throughout the exercise, researchers recorded 38 different gestures by elephants in the presence of the experimenter. All the gestures were, in some way, directed towards the tray full of apples. It possibly communicated that they wanted apples. "It was clear that they wanted the apples," lead study author Vesta Eleuteri, a behavioral biologist at the University of Vienna, said. "They're very expressive." It indicated that they were capable of using a variety of signals, another requirement of goal-directed intentionality.

The study noted that the elephants also got creative when their "desire" was not fulfilled. If the experimenter just got some apples from the tray for them, only partially fulfilling their wish, they began gesturing more. One elephant picked a leaf from his trunk to attract the emperimenter, and blew it when the pursuit failed. Another started using a stick to hit the ground, while one pelted sand on the human listener. It showcased the attribute of persistence. The elephants made no gestures when the empty tray was placed before them. Instead, they made different kinds of gestures away from the plate. Researchers believe this could be because the elephants in the study were used to training, and could have thought that the empty tray meant "end" of feeding sessions. 

Future of the Experiment

In the future, the researchers want to present two types of food to elephants and record which one they end up choosing. Through these gestures, they want to ultimately understand how these gestures fit into the elephants' social dynamic. "What is the repertoire of intentional gestures that they use, and what are their meanings?" Eleuteri questioned. "What are they telling each other?" These gestures could shed light on the personality and roles they play in their community. Hence, the team wants to expand the study from semi-captive groups to wild ones, to get a better picture of what these gestures mean for elephants.