Scientists test 16 Asian elephants with hidden fruit; they learn to follow box

Asian elephants can abandon a familiar way of reaching food when it stops working, as per a new study conducted in Thailand. In tests with 16 animals, researchers found evidence of inhibitory control, the ability to hold back an unhelpful response and switch to a successful one in seconds.The research, published in PLOS One on September 9, 2026, offered a closer look at how elephants adjust to changing circumstances. The most revealing moment arrived when scientists moved the route to a fruit, forcing the animals to overcome their habit, one they had just learned.A fruit rewardSydney Hope of Hunter College and colleagues tested Asian elephants at Thailand's National Elephant Institute.