Elephant Cooperation

http://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_do_animals_have_morals.html

"Frans De Waal: Moral Behavior in Animals." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2013.


           Frans De Waal studies the moral, empathy, cooperation, and fairness traits of animals that seem to only be traits humans have. But his studies have proved that wrong. Watching him speak on Ted Talks, he showed video of all the experiments he did; one being of the cooperation of two elephants using positive reinforcements. They had a crate with wheels that held two bowls with food in it but the crate was behind a net with two strings hanging out so that the elephants could pull the string and get the treat. Here’s the catch, they have to pull the string at the same time or it will come out and they won’t get their food. In the first experiment they did well, pulling it at the same time and receiving their treat but during the second try, the elephants were let out at different times so one had to wait for the other. The waiting elephant decided to be smart and put its foot on the string so the other elephant had to do all the work; in other words, known as free-loading. This proves that yes, elephants have the ability to synchronize and work together and also come up with alternative techniques.