Study
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) reassure others in distress
Plotnik, Joshua M.; de Waal, Frans B. M.
PeerJ, 2014
Elephants in a Thai camp were observed for naturally occurring episodes of distress — a dog passing, an unfamiliar noise, another elephant behaving aggressively. Responses by nearby elephants were recorded and compared with matched control periods when nothing had happened.
- Studied in
- Elephas maximus
- Sample size
- 26 captive Asian elephants observed over roughly a year
Bystanders approached distressed individuals, touched them with the trunk — often to the mouth — and vocalised in a high chirping call. This occurred far more often after distress episodes than during control periods, and bystanders also adopted the distressed animal’s body posture.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Asian elephants direct reassurance towards distressed companions, a form of consolation previously demonstrated mainly in great apes, canids and corvids.
How NatureHQ reads it
The control periods are what make this evidence rather than a collection of touching stories, and they are exactly what popular retellings drop. Even so, "consolation" is a behavioural category defined by what an animal does, not a claim about what it feels. NatureHQ reports the behaviour and its context, and leaves the inner life where the evidence leaves it: unresolved.
- Captive animals in daily contact with people and with each other, which may shape social behaviour.
- Distress events occurred naturally and so were not matched for intensity.
- Consolation is inferred from behaviour; the emotional state of either animal is not measured.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: PeerJPublished in PeerJ under CC BY 4.0.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.