Initially, I wanted to study the effects of TP53, which is a tumor suppressor gene, in elephants. Ultimately, though, studying this gene in a novel way would be quite difficult due to the limitations in working in a lab as a highschool student, so I began looking at other ways I could study elephants in a scientific manner. I've always had a passion for animals and decided I wanted to do something related to animal intelligence. I decided to look at emotional intelligence in animals. Currently, there is no criteria that has been developed to assess emotional intelligence in animals, so I decided to address this gap. I am building a criteria to then assess emotional intelligence in elephants. The criteria is based off of an emotional intelligence pyramid created by the National Institute of Health.

A lawsuit was filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project on behalf of Happy the elephant against the Bronx Zoo where Happy lived. The case sought a writ of habeas corpus for Happy since she was argued to exhibit personhood according to the Nonhuman Rights Project. A key piece of evidence used was that she passed the mirror test, meaning she was able to recognize herself in a mirror, and this evidenced her overall intelligence as she had self-recognition. The case went to the Supreme Court which rejected the claim that Happy exhibited personhood. Nevertheless, this case shows how society has shifted in recognizing emotional intelligence in animals and trying to advocate for them (Harvard Law Review, 2023).

(Nonhuman Rights Project, n.d.)

Sandra is an orangutan who now lives at the only accredited orangutan sanctuary in Florida. The AFADA, which is an animal activist group in Buenos Aires, filed for the same thing that was argued for Happy: the writ of habeas corpus. Though, the AFADA won the case and Sandra was granted status as a nonhuman being by judge Elena Liberatori. This gave her basic rights such as life, freedom, and right to no harm. Yet, as soon as she entered the United States, she lost this legal personhood status. The recognition of emotional intelligence in animals differs across the world (Center for Great Apes, n.d.).

Complex behaviors of elephants are observed yet these observations have been problematic in proving their emotional intelligence since the evidence is anecdotal.  The primary challenge with this evidence is that it is observed on a discretionary basis, though implementing criteria and rules to observe these behaviors makes it more scientifically defensible and strong. Their complexity is still commented on, though, such as with their fluid social systems. According to Poole and Moss, the complexity of elephant social relationships, such as their fluidity and durability, rivals that of humans and chimpanzees (Poole, Moss, 2008). 

Elephants also grieve and make repetitive visits to carcasses and do things that couldn’t be written off as curiosity - such as standing with inactive trunks by the carcass for long periods of time. Elephants also have other active displays that indicate empathy and consideration such as having an older elephant cross a road first, then the younger elephants, followed by an older elephant to ensure all the elephants get across safely (World Animal Protection, 2024).

There has been a large amount of evidence that demonstrates the capabilities of elephants in terms of emotional intelligence. The idea that elephants are emotionally intelligent is not new, but the primary ways it is shown is in certain examples in a more "case study" analysis. No broad criteria and test has been done to show how emotionally intelligent elephants are. In legal contexts, emotional intelligence has been discussed as shown in the cases of Sandra the Orangutan and Happy v. Breheny. 

By using an observational study and tally chart method, I will observe elephant behavior from National Geographic Documentaries. Given my limitations as a highschool study, observing elephants from afar is the best methodology. I will only be noting behaviors that are commented on by researchers in the documentaries to make sure I understand the intent of the actions with the elephants. Additionally, documentaries are able to show complex herd behaviors that elephant live cameras might not be able to show. I am using a tally chart to measure data as it provides an easy way to display the frequency of behaviors and also to categorize them. For the tally chart, I am marking which documentary the behavior was from, the timestamp it was at, what the behavior was, and what category the behavior would fall into and why.