In 2006, a team published the results of an experiment with three Asian elephants exposed to a large mirror. Animals are exploring the object, but researchers are looking for something more specific than an interest in a new surface.
Visible marks and invisible control marks allow to examine their behavior. One of the elephants, Happy, touches with her trunk the mark visible on her own head using the mirror. The other two do not show the same result on the brand test.
The authors interpret this behavior as an indication of self-recognition. It does not give access to all the animal’s inner experience, and does not mean that every elephant would automatically succeed. The strength of the narrative lies in the observed gesture: the reaction is not only aimed at the image in front of it, but at a part of its own body.
What we know
An elephant passes the brand test in this study; behavioral result, not total proof of a consciousness identical to that of the human.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
Signaler une erreur ou apporter une précision
