Asian elephants acquire inaccessible food by blowing

• Published in: Animal cognition Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 215 - 222
• Main Authors: Mizuno, Kaori, Irie, Naoko, Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, Mariko, Kutsukake, Nobuyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.01.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animals; Animals, Zoo; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blowing; Elephantidae; Elephants; Elephants - psychology; Elephas maximus; Exhalation; Familiarity; Female; Food; Life Sciences; Original Paper; Problem Solving; Psychology Research; Zoology; Goal-directed behaviour; Problem solving; Asian elephants; Tool use; Individual differences
• ISSN: 1435-9448; 1435-9456; 1435-9456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0929-2

Many animals acquire otherwise inaccessible food with the aid of sticks and occasionally water. As an exception, some reports suggest that elephants manipulate breathing through their trunks to acquire inaccessible food. Here, we report on two female Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus ) in Kamine Zoo, Japan, who regularly blew to drive food within their reach. We experimentally investigated this behaviour by placing foods in inaccessible places. The elephants blew the food until it came within accessible range. Once the food was within range, the elephants were increasingly less likely to blow as the distance to the food became shorter. One subject manipulated her blowing duration based on food distance: longer when the food was distant. These results suggest that the elephants used their breath to achieve goals: that is, they used it not only to retrieve the food but also to fine-tune the food position for easy grasping. We also observed individual differences in the elephants’ aptitude for this technique, which altered the efficiency of food acquisition. Thus, we added a new example of spontaneous behaviour for achieving a goal in animals. The use of breath to drive food is probably unique to elephants, with their dexterous trunks and familiarity with manipulating the act of blowing, which is commonly employed for self-comfort and acoustic communication.