Elephants know how to comfort their fellow human beings

Recent research by American scientists shows that elephants are animals that can understand and comfort fellow humans when needed.

>>>Elephants understand human gestures

To conduct the study, scientists at Emory University tracked 26 Asian elephants raised at a conservation area in northern Thailand for a year, Redorbit said. During this time, the team observed and recorded situations that made panic-stricken elephants such as encountering dangerous enemies or encountering other elephants and elephant reactions in the herd.

The elephants can comfort each other when the same type is in trouble.(Photo: ShutterStock)

The results showed that the injured elephants will be more interested and paid attention to by elephants than usual. At this time, another elephant in the herd will come and touch the face of the injured elephant lightly.

To show empathy, elephants can also mimic the body's actions and emotional state. In addition, they will produce a very special sound."When comforting people, elephants produce a very high sound. We never heard this kind of sound when they stood alone," said Joshua Plotnik, a member of the research team.

According to psychology professor Frans de Waal, the study results show that elephants are intelligent animals and may feel sad when they see their loved ones. The act of caring and comforting each other has been similarly observed in chimpanzees.

However, scientists also said new research was done on elephants in captivity. They hope to learn more about this particular behavior in elephants living in the wild.