Elephant emotion and psychology

By Debra Durham • May 31st, 2008 • Category: Elephants, Interview, Non-fiction

The latest in the Month of Elephants series is a short and sweet video clip to enjoy this Saturday.

TheHour presents a segment on elephant emotion and psychology

Does the video raise questions for you? What about an emotional reaction? I cried while Scott described his emotional exchange with Winkie, and then felt grateful that there are places like TES that are committed to caring for elephants.

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2 Responses »

  1. Julie on May 31st, 2008 at 3:27 pm:

    Yes, indeed. Very moving. I’m saddened, but not at all surprised, that animals can experience PTSD. I wonder how they could tell that Winkie “took responsibility” for her actions.

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  2. Debra Durham on June 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm:

    Thanks for stopping by!
    Good question, Julie. Elephants are self-aware, so it’s safe to say that they are aware of their own actions, and likely the consequences of something with clear cause and effect relationships - like attack - injury. As for the interpretation, I wonder if the long term relationship between Winkie and these caregivers doesn’t give them special insight. It’s imperfect knowledge, even with other humans.

    I’d like to think I know when one of the canine or feline members of this household are out of sorts by patterns in their behavior and that there are clues as to what that is.

    I’m really glad there are places like TES!

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