The old adage that an elephant never forgets may be exactly that, an adage. But sometimes there is a grain of truth in tired bromides. Elephants have long been regarded as intelligent animals and there is evidence that elephant intelligence is on equal footing with many of the higher mammals.

For example, along with their well-developed problem solving ability, elephants are known for their use of tools and they exhibit altruism, compassion, self-awareness, and language complexity. There is further physical evidence that a pachyderm's processing power may be greater than earlier believed.

A crude measure of intelligence is pure brain weight. Adult elephants have on average a brain weighing in at around eleven pounds. On the list of all land animals, this puts the elephant at the top of the heap in terms of brain mass.

Intelligence may not always be accurately measured by pure brain weight. Among humans, for example, brain weight and intelligence test scores are not highly correlated. A better estimate of mammalian intelligence might be obtained by a measure of the capacity to learn. Elephants, like many of the other higher mammals, do not come into this world armed with a complete set of survival instincts. A potential to learn is therefore critical. One way to estimate an animal's learning potential is to measure its average brain mass at birth and compare this as a percentage to the average brain mass of a fully-grown adult: The smaller the percentage, the greater the capacity to learn.

Elephants score well in this measure of learning capacity. Average human brains at birth weight approximately 28% of their fully developed adult counterparts. The most intelligent sea mammals, bottle-nosed dolphins, have a brain weight at birth that is 42. 5% of an adult dolphin's brain weight. For chimpanzees the percentage is 54%. The weight of an elephant's baby brain is typically 35% that of a fully formed adult, indicating a second highest capacity for learning after humans.

With this evidence elephants, along with their well-known predilection to problem solving, have engendered new assessments of their overall intelligence. It is now accepted in certain circles that pachyderm intelligence rates as high if not higher than that of dolphins and some whales. This comes as no surprise to people around the world who work with these intelligent and sensitive beasts.

The old adage that an elephant never forgets may be exactly that, an adage. But sometimes there is a grain of truth in tired bromides. Elephants have long been regarded as intelligent animals and there is evidence that elephant intelligence is on equal footing with many of the higher mammals.

About the Author
Elephant intelligence has always interested Andrew Keet who stays in South Africa and has been watching elephants for nearly fifty years.