Elephants Don’t Just Use Sticks — They Use Them Like Tools

Quick Take

• A branch pulled straight from a tree often fails as a fly swatter, and the mechanical reason why reveals something unexpected about elephant problem-solving. See why branches fail →
• There's a hard line between an animal using a tool and an animal manufacturing one, and elephants land on a side that challenges long-held biological assumptions. Explore the tool-making distinction →
• The specific modification elephants make to a branch before using it is the detail that separates clever behavior from something far more remarkable. See the specific modification →
• When branches aren't an option, elephants shift to a completely different pest-control strategy. And it's just as deliberate. Discover the backup strategy →

Flies can be extremely pesky and annoying to deal with. While flies swarm our food during outdoor picnics, it seems that all animals have to deal with them as well. One example is elephants, which have come up with clever ways to get flies off themselves. This YouTube Short by @wichitawichitanurak8177 shows an elephant using a branch to swat flies off itself. Read on to learn more.

Elephant Ingenuity

Elephants are unsurprisingly some of the smartest creatures in the world. They are known for their high sociability and emotional intelligence, and they use their smarts to their advantage. One way is by using leafy branches to swat flies off themselves. The video above is a great look at this. The elephant is clearly annoyed by the bugs around it, and rather than just using its trunk, it uses a branch to swat in places that are hard to reach. These tools help elephants get rid of unwanted insects that can be a nuisance. While elephant trunks are extremely versatile, just like our arms, they can’t reach everywhere. So, like a back scratcher, elephants use branches to reach their backs and shoulders as well. This is a great showcase of elephants’ intelligence and how they turn natural materials into tools.

Elephants are one example of wild animals that make their own tools to benefit themselves. While many animals can use a stick to scratch, the way elephants seemingly manufacture their tools indicates higher intelligence. Although it may not seem that impressive to humans, elephants may shorten a branch that’s too long, remove excess leaves from their fly swatters, or even snap specific branches off trees. The fact that they use tools from nature, modifying them rather than using them exactly as found, is an interesting behavior. When branches are not readily available, elephants use alternative methods to reduce insects. These include bathing in dust and mud, standing in water, or rubbing against trees. Elephants appear to have figured out the best ways to deal with insects flying around them.