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Elephant Psychology and PTSD

Introduction
There is evidence that elephants can experience PTSD just like humans. Their
psychology will be explained to help you understand what they are like, how they function and
how they can experience PTSD. The causes and effects of PTSD on the elephants psychological
development will be explained.
Literature Review
Research on elephant psychology is scarce and has not been studied sufficiently. It is
mainly difficult to conduct research on elephants because they are difficult and dangerous to
manage and work with (Irie 2009). But, it is slowly changing today. According to research on
elephant psychology, elephants have a high social life and live in hierarchical and matriarchal
herds of 30-100. They can live up to 70 years. They collaborate to get things done such as raising
calves to adulthood. Baby elephants get weaned off at age of 5 years. Male elephants sexually
mature at age of 12-15 years. Then, they leave their herd to find suitable mates to copulate with
and establish their own herd. Female elephants stay with their own herd all their life. They have
capacity to use tools (e.g. sticks to fend off flies). They prove to have long-term memory by
picking the correct drawing out of several drawings in 330 trials (Irie 2009).
According to Gendler, elephants do not forget because of their amazing memory
capabilities (2014). For instance, elephant herds can identify and keep track of all of their
companions by sight or smell, which is a huge asset in migration. Also, they can distinguish and
remember danger signal cues and recall important locations such as drinking ponds after years of
not being in use. Moreover, they can recognize friends and family after a long time of not seeing
them and cry in joy upon reunion, elephants or not.

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Gendler explains that the elephant has the largest brain of all mammals in existence
(2014). This brain has an exceptionally developed hippocampus and cerebral cortex which is
responsible for emotional encoding and long-term memory (Gendler 2014). That explains why
elephants have long memories and do not forget. Because of it, elephants is one of the few
species that can experience PTSD. Elephants is the only animal that mourn, bury, and visit their
dead (Gendler 2014). These displays of behavior and supporting research demonstrate that
elephants are emotional, intelligent, and social beings. Unfortunately, humans do not respect
them as such. Their attitudes are reflected in habitat destruction, poaching, mistreatment in
captivity, and so forth (Gendler 2014). Studying elephant psychology is especially critical to
ensure their survival in wildness and oversee their welfare in captivity.
There is an excerpt in the British journal Nature that said that there were over 10 million
elephants in Africa by the 19th century. However, today, after ivory poaching, habitat destruction,
and culling, the population of elephants got reduced by 95%, meaning there is only an half
million left (Nature). It is quite traumatic for elephants for they love their herds deeply like a big
network of family. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic condition that is caused by
a deep, psychological reaction to extreme stress and traumatic events such as witnessing death.
Symptoms may include scary flashbacks, excessive anxiety, aggression, etc. (Schacter 2014, p.
599). Elderly elephants are culled (killed) for their highly prized ivory tasks because the older
the elephant, the bigger their tusks will be. As a result, most of the elderly elephants got culled
for their tusks. Unable to receive the guidance young elephants need from elderly elephants,
male adolescent elephants display high aggression to other male elephants while female
elephants may not gain the experience they need to be a good mother. According to the excerpt,

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young male elephants killing other male elephants account for 90% of elephant deaths. They
even went after rhinoceroses just to kill them in grief in the event of their familys death.
Then, there is captivity. According to Bradshaw, elephants experience PTSD because of
stressors such as physical abuse, deprivation, isolation, witnessing loss, threat of death, and so
forth (1995). When young elephants get captured and held captive, they often did not finish
weaning and they are not be able to escape. As a result, they experience stressors as described
above. They will not have a social life and develop bonds because they get transported
everywhere and get separated from other elephants, leading to trauma, depression, isolation, and
delayed psychological development. They are often subjected to withdrawal of food and water.
Elephants are independent and consider eating as a sacred regimen because they need to feel free
to eat and drink whenever they want. Under extreme stress, elephants can develop eating
disorders in order to gain back control (Bradshaw 1995). Captive elephants are vulnerable to
emotional and mental disturbances because they feel a need to survive and they have to depend
on humans for survival. As a result, they develop deep psychological scars that can change how
their brain function (Bradshaw 1995).
According to Shannon, one horrifying experience is enough to deeply shake the psyche of
an elephant, especially the brain (2013). So, adolescent elephants will be especially vulnerable to
trauma. They depend on socialization, guidance, communication, and more in order to develop a
healthy life and have best chances of survival. There is no cure for PTSD so once elephants get
PTSD, they live with it forever.
Application
I have been studying veterinary technology for 4 years now and I am currently interested
in working with a wide range of animals, including elephants, for experience and knowledge. I

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wonder how to integrate psychology into my veterinary career and the first thing I thought of is
elephants. While I do not work with elephants before, I have been fascinated by them and hope
to work with them one day. As stated earlier, elephants are highly intelligent on the par with
humans. I speculate whether they have similar psychology or not. So, Ive looked into elephant
psychology and see what makes them tick. As a result, I have come up with elephant PTSD. I
think it is important to understand how elephants function and respond to stress, trauma,
captivity, and more because if I ever end up working with an elephant, it will be because they
live in a sanctuary, not in the wild. So, I can help them to my best ability.
Conclusion
I have learned that elephants are amazing creatures with powerful memory and articulate
social lives. They are highly sensitive to their surrounding environments and feel deeply for
others. It has been fascinating exploring their psychology and zoology. Its troubling and
upsetting that elephants have been subjected to captivity, habitat loss, culling, and illegal ivory
poaching even today. They are vital to the ecosystem for many reasons. Witnessing such
traumatic events can lead to developing PTSD in elephants. They need healthy communities,
bonds, and habitats in order to thrive. Because Im studying to be a veterinary technician, I wish
to know more about elephant husbandry, medicine, biology, and more. I believe that if I study
elephant psychology and more, I can help sanctuary elephants facilitate their own recovery.

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References
Bradshaw, G. A., & Lindner, L. (1995). Post-traumatic stress and elephants in captivity. The
Elephant Sanctuary. Retrieved from
http://www.elephants.com/joanna/Bradshaw&Lindner_PTSD-rev.pdf
Irie, N., & Hasegawa, T. (2009). Elephant psychology: What we know and what we would like to
know.

Japanese

Psychological

Research,

51(3),

177-181.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-

5884.2009.00404.x
Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., & Wegner, D. M. (2014). Psychology (3rd ed.). New York: Worth.
Shannon, G., Slotow, R., Durant, S. M., Sayialel, K. N., Poole, J., Moss, C., & McComb, K.
(2013). Effects of social disruption in elephants persist decades after culling. Front Zool,
10(1), 62. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-10-62
TED-Ed. (2014). Why elephants never forget - Alex Gendler. Retrieved June 9, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXNqsOoURg