Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation

• Published in: Learning & behavior Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 44 - 64
• Main Authors: Hope, Sydney F., Willgohs, Kaitlyn R., Dittakul, Sangpa, Plotnik, Joshua M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2025; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal cognition; Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cognition; Elephants; Elephants - physiology; Elephants - psychology; Flexibility; Memory; Memory - physiology; Neurosciences; Popular culture; Psychology; Sensory perception; Social environment; Social interaction; Cognition; Episodic; Spatial; Memory; Elephant; Elephas maximus; Loxodonta africana; Loxodonta cyclotis
• ISSN: 1543-4494; 1543-4508; 1543-4508
• DOI: 10.3758/s13420-024-00655-y

Despite popular culture’s promotion of the elephant’s ability to “never forget,” there is remarkably limited empirical research on the memory capacities of any living elephant species (Asian, Elephas maximus ; African savanna, Loxodonta africana ; African forest, Loxodonta cyclotis ). A growing body of literature on elephant cognition and behavioral ecology has provided insight into the elephant’s ability to behave flexibly in changing physical and social environments, but little direct evidence of how memory might relate to this flexibility exists. In this paper, we review and discuss the potential relationships between what we know about elephant cognition and behavior and the elephants’ memory for the world around them as they navigate their physical, social, and spatial environments. We also discuss future directions for investigating elephant memory and implications for such research on elephant conservation and human–elephant conflict mitigation.