PTSD in Rhinos?
– Amanda Levine
Elephants are known to be extraordinarily intelligent creatures. It has now been scientifically proven that elephants are smarter than we give them credit for with brains relatively similar to that of a human.
In an article written by Charles Siebert for National Geographic, Seibert explains, “MRI scans of an elephant’s brain suggest a large hippocampus, the component in the mammalian brain linked to memory and an important part of its limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions. The elephant brain has also been shown to possess an abundance of the specialized neurons known as spindle cells, which are thought to be associated with self-awareness, empathy, and social awareness in humans.” Siebert is saying how elephants much like humans are capable of processing emotions, along with knowing what is good or bad in order to make a decision.
There was one specific case at a circus where an elephant was condoned for not being able to do a trick correctly. The elephant then proceeded to run into the next room and lie down and cry much like a human would do. Because of this ability to process information elephants have shown visible symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Also known as PTSD, it is an anxiety disorder caused by traumatic events. I do not know exactly to what extent we can see similar behavior in rhinos because of lack of studies on the subject, but workers within the Rhino Orphanage have spoken about cases in which they observe symptoms similar to PTSD in rhinos. One particular rhino at the orphanage panics when he smells smoke because at the time himself and his mother were poached; one of the poachers was smoking. There are also primarily woman working at the orphanage because many of the rhinos react badly to men, since it reminds them of their past poaching experience. Rhinos do not often show visible signs of stress, unlike giraffes that are easily susceptible to death from stress especially when transferred between reserves. But when a rhino placed in a stressful situation, vets have found ulcers within these rhinos—hidden indicators of the impact of stress.
Stress is a product of the ability to consciously think through emotions. And it is evident that rhinos exhibit emotions, as is seen through the calves incredibly strong bond to their mothers. During a poaching the calf will do anything to stay next to the mother, even if poachers start hacking away at them. The calves will squeal and cry throughout the entire poaching until he is killed or knocked out.
Although we do not have extensive information on their mental capacities, I have observed some extraordinary behavior in the past 6 weeks and I believe there is no denying their intelligence and how affected they are by stressful situations. Elephants have long been targeted for their ivory, and have always been of interest to research. Now that rhinos are under equal if not more extensive threat in specific places of Africa, I think it is time that scholars and researchers travel to Africa to study this amazing animal.