Some people say that animals don’t have feelings like humans do.
If that belief were widely accepted, we would be obligated to share the Earth as equals with animals.
They’d have to be awarded the same rights and protections as humans.
While it seems that the world is a long ways away from that anything of the sort, we do have proof that animals do, in fact, possess feelings and intelligence.
This is made evident in a recent video that has surfaced of an elephant running to aid his caregiver who was attacked by another man.
The video is actually just a demonstration and not a real attack.
The caretaker and attacker faked the attack in order to show the powerful bond forged between elephants and those who care for them.
The video features a 17-year-old elephant named Thongsri who lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The video begins with Thongsri’s keeper faking a fight with another man.
The man comes running toward the caretaker.
He yells and then pretends to throw the caretaker to the ground.
What happens next is nothing short than amazing.
Thongsri then rushes over to her caretaker as the attacker flees.
She then makes a noise and sounds as if she’s concerned for him.
She circles her caretaker once and stays close to him.
She then kneels down a bit to get a closer look and to make sure that he’s OK.
Eventually, the caretaker stands up and gives the camera a thumbs up.
At that point, Thongsri seems content knowing that her caretaker isn’t in danger. All is well now that her caretaker is safe.
This video isn’t that surprising to people who study elephants, as elephants are widely known to be emotionally complex beings.
And they are known to possess an enormous amount of empathy.
A 2008 35-year study of elephants published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies confirmed the high emotional intelligence of elephants.
“These records demonstrate that an elephant is capable of diagnosing animacy and goal-directedness, and is able to understand the physical competence, emotional state and intentions of others, when they differ from its own,” the study states. “We argue that an empathic understanding of others is the simplest explanation of these abilities, and discuss reasons why elephants appear to show empathy more than other non-primate species.”
You can watch Thongsri rush to come to the aid of her caretaker in the video below.
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