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Elephants 'understand human gesture'


Still Waters

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In this brief clip of two of the trials, Professor Richard Byrne describes how the elephants got the point from the first test.

Animal keeper Rachel Melling describes the bond she feels with the elephants she works with and how they "respond to body language".

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-24459524

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This makes sense, most animals use body laungage to communicate. Humans less so than most advanced animals. We understand some dog and cat and other dometic animal laungage.

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It just takes active observation skills to learn body language. I'm pretty sure everyone uses to a degree and we just choose to ignore it.

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An example of this would be the old saying of two men talking to each other, and unknowingly moving across the room. One man is europian the other is american. The europian is used to being up close and personal and the american is used to a little more space. So when ever the europian moves in close the american backs off. Niether relizing what is going on.

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An example of this would be the old saying of two men talking to each other, and unknowingly moving across the room. One man is europian the other is american. The europian is used to being up close and personal and the american is used to a little more space. So when ever the europian moves in close the american backs off. Niether relizing what is going on.

That's a good analogy.

Communication between let's say cats and humans is useless because we speak two different languages.

It's like me trying to hold a conversation with someone who speaks Mandarin.

It's just not going to happen.

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I'm not exactly surprised by this.

Elephants have been demonstrating their intelligence for years, and while the idea could be surprising, I'm sure as mentioned that they themselves point with their trunks.

Of course, this is just my opinion until it's been proved.

But there are kinds of observations that have been noted including this one:

"[in India an] elephant was following a truck and, upon command, was pulling logs out of it to place in pre-dug holes in preparation for a ceremony. The elephant continued to follow his master's commands until they reached one hole where the elephant would not lower the log into the hole but held it in mid-air above the hole. When the mahout [elephant driver] approached the hole to investigate, he found a dog sleeping at the bottom; only after chasing the dog away would the elephant lower the post into the hole. (3, p. 137)" ---http://natureinstitute.org/pub/ic/ic5/elephant.htm

Discovery has even given elephants IQ tests in which they outwitted humans. (http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals/elephants-intelligence-test-110307.htm)

I also believe that I've read somewhere that elephants are one of the few species who have a concept of death, and that when a member of their herd dies, all of the elephants will gather and touch their fallen family member, almost like their saying goodbye. In fact, he's another link that talks about the range of emotions which are believed to be expressed by elephants: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/unforgettable-elephants/elephant-emotions/5886/

I'm not at all surprised by this new study. (: I love ellies.

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There was a wild bull elephant, that would knock on your door and wait for you to answer before he killed you. He would also stop speeding cars and kill the occupents. This was like five years ago, give or take.

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That's a good analogy.

Communication between let's say cats and humans is useless because we speak two different languages.

It's like me trying to hold a conversation with someone who speaks Mandarin.

It's just not going to happen.

I could understand my cats to a degree. Most people can understand the body language of their pets to some degree.
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There was a wild bull elephant, that would knock on your door and wait for you to answer before he killed you. He would also stop speeding cars and kill the occupents. This was like five years ago, give or take.

So if one cuts you off in traffic you might want to avoid giving the usual gesture!

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