Unlike the primate hand, the elephant's grasping organ is also its nose. Elephants use their trunks not only to reach food but also to sniff and touch it. With their unparalleled sense of smell, the animals know exactly what they are going for. Vision is secondary.

Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal

Also Animals Elephant Elephants Exactly Food Going Grasping Hand Know Nose Only Organ Reach Secondary Sense Smell Sniff Touch Unlike Unparalleled Use Vision

Related Quotes

In Africa, we have the bush meat trade, which means that, on a very large scale, animals are being killed in the forests and sold in the cities as a luxury food.

— Frans de Waal

AfricaAnimalsBeing

You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society.

— Frans de Waal

AboutDesigningHand

Our brains have been designed to blur the line between self and other. It is an ancient neural circuitry that marks every mammal, from mouse to elephant.

— Frans de Waal

AncientBeenBetween

The sturdiest pillars of human morality are compassion and a sense of justice.

— Frans de Waal

CompassionHumanJustice

I am personally not against keeping animals at zoos, as they serve a huge educational purpose, but treating them well and with respect seems the least we could do, and with 'we' I mean not just zoo staff, but most certainly also the public.

— Frans de Waal