And after an experiment on cooperation, they’ve proven to be even more so — the pachyderms seem able to figure out when they need a partner to help solve a problem, and they are able to coordinate with another individual to accomplish the required cooperation.

At the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand, 12 Asian elephants participated in a cooperation test that was originally created to test chimpanzees. The elephants were paired off, and each set was introduced to two bowls of corn. There was only one way the elephants could reach the corn: Both animals had to pull a rope at the same time, which they soon figured out. If only one elephant was admitted into the test area, it waited for a partner; once the partner arrived, they both began to pull the rope.