Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) reassure others in distress

Contract directed by uninvolved bystsndards toward others in distress, often termed consolation, is uncommon in the animal kingdom ,thus far only demonstrated in the great apes, cannies, and corvids. Whereas the typical agonistic of such contract is relatively rare within natural elephant families, other causes of distress may trigger similar, other-regarding responses. In a study carried out at an elephant camp in Thailand, we found that elephants affiliated significantly more which other individuals through directed, physical contact and vocal communication following a distress event than in control periods. In addition ,bystandards affiliated with each other, and matched the behavior and emotional state of the first distressed individual,suggesting emotional contagion. The intial distress response were overwhelmingly direccted toward ambiguous stimuli, thus making it difficult to determine if bystandards reacted individual or showed response to the same stimulas Nonetheless, the directionality of the contacts and their nature strongly suggest toward the emotional states of conspecifies . The elephants behavior is therefore best classified with similar consolation by apes possibly based on convergent evolution of empathic capcities.