title: Visual cues given by humans are not sufficient for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to find hidden food.
abstract: Recent research suggests that domesticated species--due to artificial selection by humans for specific, preferred behavioral traits--are better than wild animals at responding to visual cues given by humans about the location of hidden food. \Although this seems to be supported by studies on a range of domesticated (including dogs, goats and horses) and wild (including wolves and chimpanzees) animals, there is also evidence that exposure to humans positively influences the ability of both wild and domesticated animals to follow these same cues. Here, we test the performance of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) on an object choice task that provides them with visual-only cues given by humans about the location of hidden food. Captive elephants are interesting candidates for investigating how both domestication and human exposure may impact cue-following as they represent a non-domesticated species with almost constant human interaction. As a group, the elephants (n = 7) in our study were unable to follow pointing, body orientation or a combination of both as honest signals of food location. They were, however, able to follow vocal commands with which they were already familiar in a novel context, suggesting the elephants are able to follow cues if they are sufficiently salient. Although the elephants' inability to follow the visual cues provides partial support for the domestication hypothesis, an alternative explanation is that elephants may rely more heavily on other sensory modalities, specifically olfaction and audition. Further research will be needed to rule out this alternative explanation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joshua M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Plotnik
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pokorny
authors.forename: Titiporn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keratimanochaya
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Hana F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Beronja
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hennessy
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Virginia J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: Caitlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.forename: Beckett L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Melville
authors.forename: Violet M B
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: Dannah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seecoomar
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: Jehona
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ukehaxhaj
authors.forename: Sophia K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Vlahakis
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ylli
authors.forename: Nicola S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Emilie L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Fure
authors.forename: Alicia P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Duchatelier
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Getz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D003463:Cues; D004606:Elephants / Q000502:physiology*; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D013785:Thailand; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*