Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk is a passage about a study preformed to test elephants' abilities to collaborate. It explains the basic process of the experiment, and provided in-depth analysis of the results. It made many comparisons between the study and other studies and research and noted the opinions of numerous professionals, which helped show the significance of the test's findings. The purpose of this passage was to primarily to be an entertaining article, and secondarily to inform the reader about the experiment. It was very similar to Elephants Console Each Other in tone and style, but differed more from Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk, mainly because it was less informational, and more enjoyable. The excerpt from Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk is about the exact procedures and results of the same experiment that Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk was about. It contains the precise physical dimensions of every part of the test, and detailed explanations of each step that was followed to preform the test. Little to no opinions, quotes, or even conclusions that could be drawn were included, due to the strict, formal, and informational nature of the passage. The author's purpose was purely to explain all parts of the elephant study, and not at all to entertain or persuade. …show more content…
Like Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk, it provides a decent amount of information and opinions about the study, but was mostly written for the sake of entertaining the author's audience. Unlike the other two passages, Elephants Console Each Other provides a specific example of one of the tests, and also contains an exceptional amount of quotes, some of which come from the orchestrater of the experiment. It contained less information about the nuances of its test compared to the second
According to the beginning of the video, it states, “Scientists now believe [elephants are] among the world’s most cognitively advanced animals.” The outcome of this experiment was so positive that now elephants are one of the world's most advanced animals. However, this took the scientists by surprise. Subsequently, it also states in the video, “Elephants recently aced an IQ test with two of them even figuring out shortcuts the researches hadn't thought of.” This in particular, was most outstanding due to to the fact that the researchers didn’t even think of the shortcut that the elephants made. This really proves that elephants are wise mammals; possibly, even wiser than us humans. To conclude, it states in the video, “Scientists say the test highlights not only the intelligence of individual elephants but also their ability to cooperate and understand the value of teamwork.” This here exhibits that the elephants understand that certain tasks need to be done with the assistance of others, not just by themselves. Thus, as the video illustrates the elephants are more brainy than we
Have you ever wondered how animals interact and work together to get a job done? Many times, animals put their minds together to complete a task. But what many people do not realize is that animals interact with one another just as humans would. In many instances, people don’t realize the amount of intelligence and common sense that animals, such as the elephant, possess. The study of elephant’s thoughts and thinking were explained and backed up through three different mediums. This information was explained through articles, videos, and passages. Combined, these pieces of work clarified what the experiment was, what it was testing, the purpose behind it, and how the different pieces were
The story also is powered by the idea that elephants do not forget anything that happens to them in their lives, they remember everything and that if an elephant is not killed prematurely, and then in old age it will go insane and senile with so many useless memories. Being written with a third-person omniscient point of view, as reader it is easy to pick-up the thoughts and ideas of all characters. Originally it is thought that in the beginning of the book that Mud will be the only
This knowledge and empathy combined would anthropomorphize elephants, imagining them as more human-like and would lead to coexistence, aka the trans-species psyche. In Siebert's An Elephant Crackup?, elephants and humans as a whole are in conflict with each other due to not knowing why the other group is aggressive and thus are in constant retaliation to each other (Siebert 322). A trans-species psyche can not be achieved if humans do not imagine elephants are equal beings. This imagination is not simply making up things as if they were lies, imagining elephants as more human teaches humans that they are emotionally and socially on the same level by emphasizing their mind's eye; giving another perspective of elephants than just wild animals ready to be poached. An example of people being blind to imagination is shown in an incident when a herd of elephants killed a man near the village Katwa, but buried him out of respect. The elephants themselves elephantmorphize the human so the human is like them, but the humans that want to retrieve the man's corpse do not anthropomorphize the elephants. The human villagers shoot gunfire on the elephants to drive them away, causing future generations of traumatized and violent elephants (334). Without imagination, people would not be able to understand others(which don't have to be human) causing a lack of empathy, a trait important for creating the trans-species psyche that Siebert
Morell’s purpose of writing is to inform the reader of the elephants behavior during the testing, their intelligence, and their compassion. In “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk” It says, “...the pachyderms understand that they will fail at a task without a partner’s assistance. The ability to understand when you need help Is present in both humans and elephants. Just like when a human asks for help elephants know when they need help in doing a task. Morell also says in her other article, “Elephants Console Each Other” that elephants who are angry erect their tail and make their ears flare.
There are some wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than wounds that bleed. Just as all humans, elephants similarly feel emotions whether it is joy or sorrow. In his article “An Elephant Crack Up?” the author, Charles Siebert focuses on the recent strange and bellicose behaviors of elephants and clears up the causes of the behaviors with plenty of informative observations. In “Immune to Reality,” Daniel Gilbert theorizes that the psychological immune system is triggered by large-scale negative events. We also see these negative effects in the passage, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan,” while Ethan Watters exposes the attempts of Glaxo Smith Kline to convince the Japanese doctors that the Japanese people
At Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary, the staff is determined to give elephants their best lives. They take in elephants retired from circus shows and other forms of entertainment. When the elephants get there, most suffer from many different illnesses and behavior problems. Some of the
The second source is a cartoon. It shows two elephants so induced to themselves they do not notice the little ants getting crushed, as the caption say: “When elephants m...
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
Cohn, Jeffrey P. "Do Elephants Belong In Zoos?" Bioscience 56.9 (2006): 714-717. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Their favorites are mangoes, berries and coconuts. An elephant eats up to 500 pounds of vegetation every day and drinks up to 50 gallons of water daily. Elephants must consume these giant quantities of food, due to their poor digestive system. The small intestine is 82 feet long, the large intestine 21 feet long, and the rectum adds a further 13 feet. The problem with the digestive tract lies in their gut; elephants have too few symbiotic bacteria. These are the organisms which help break down the cellulose of plant cell walls by producing enzymes called cellulases. The most remarkable feature of the elephant’s digestive system is its 5 feet long appendix, bigger than the stomach.
The "Emaciated Asian Elephant Started Life at Busch Gardens. " N.p., n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 12 May 2015.
The number of African and Asian elephants in North American zoos is declining as a result of many medical issues. A new disease has recently been discovered that is now hindering elephant’s ability to survive even further. This is a major problem because according to Science Magazine, as of 1997, there are only an estimated 291 Asian elephants and 193 African elephants left in North American zoos. Since this survey was conducted, this number has severely declined. It is now estimated that for every elephant that is born in a zoo another three die.
Each man had a different idea of what an elephant is like based off of what they had heard and gathered from discussions between other villagers and travelers. Having heard varying discussions, all of the men had their own perception of the characteristics of an elephant. When the six men were finally taken to experience a real elephant, these preconceived notions of their own imaginations affected their encounter with the elephant. The men could only feel what they believed to be true regarding the animal. Their individual expectations obstructed their abilities to discover the truth. For example, the third blind man believed the elephant to be dangerous and capable of fatally injuring a man with its “terrible horn.” When the third blind man touched the elephant, he felt its tusks and said “‘I was right,’ he decided. ‘This creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear,”’(qtd. in Blubaugh). Because the third blind man imagined the elephant to be dangerous, when he actually encountered the animal his previous perceptions caused him to be biased
By doing so, we can prevent the extinction of this keystone species, as well as the extinction of many other species greatly dependent on the survival of elephants. We have seen examples of species interactions in the habitat by providing valuable resources such as food, water, and sunlight. By using their enormous size they have allowed sunlight through the clearing of trees, through their tremendous weight they have created a large hole in the ground with a single footprint large enough to support a small habitat with prey, and, with their sheer tusk strength they are able to dig into dry riverbeds thus providing water. It is necessary to ensure the safety and survival of elephants by creating the proper conservation area without any human intrusions. Furthermore, we must cease human encroachment on the elephant habitats in Africa.