In March 2020, a group of 15 Asian elephants from Yunnan Province, China, migrated northward, once attracting the attention of the world's media.

As World Elephant Day approaches on August 12, let us once again turn our attention to elephants and consider how humans can coexist with them and nature.

The head elephant stood for a long time, motionless, staring into the distance. Time passes differently. It is the role of the head elephant to find an oasis and guide the way for the whole herd.

The year was 1993, and Tanzania's Tarangire National Park was hit by a drought rarely seen in half a century. In less than a year, three herds of nearly 100 young elephants, there are more than a dozen unfortunately died, and the mortality rate is 10 times the normal year.

But the researchers found something else. The three herds were not all the same. One herd lost 10 young elephants, while the other two had little loss.

As it turns out, it was the different choices they made in the face of the drought that led to different fates. The two more fortunate herds decided to leave the place where they were living and go in search of new water and food. When they arrived, there was a surprising amount of new greenery and many mud bogs, and puddles of water.

The elephant herd, which had lost a lot of money, did not dare to go away. They had to accept the harshness of nature in silence.

Why do they make different choices? The researchers' eyes finally focused on the head elephant. Just over 30 years ago, Tarangire Park also experienced a severe drought. But none of the elephants in this herd that failed to emerge from the predicament was old enough to remember or even experience the disaster back then.

The memory of the cool survival is not deeply engraved into their blood and bones. The two elephant herds that left their original locations were 38 and 45 years old, respectively. Elephants have a marvellous memory, and can remember something for a long time, even up to decades will not forget it.

In an average year, a water source somewhere in the desert may only appear every eight months. In Africa, where water is scarce, a herd of elephants led by elders in their 30s and 40s, travelling long and arduous distances, will always eventually find some life-saving watering hole.

By contrast, herds left with young leaders due to poaching or accidental death often fail to find adequate forage or water habitat, leading to a dramatic increase in mortality.

Elephant herds have implicit native ecological knowledge that mysteriously flows and is passed on during intergenerational transitions, exploring the environment, fighting, and other kinds of activities. They can remember the location of food, water, and minerals with a high degree of precision. It is the head elephant that acts as the herd's grand chancellor.

That is why Aristotle described the elephant as an animal that surpasses all other animals in wisdom and thought. Modern animal behaviourists therefore also believe that elephants are among the most intelligent animals.

Among terrestrial mammals, elephants have the heaviest brains and a staggering number of neurons.

So, even if there is a severe drought that occurs once every few decades, as long as there are old enough elephants in the group, it can lead the herd to eventually regain its life.