Elephants do forget, but they have impressive memories. They have the largest brains of any land mammal, and some believe that their intelligence is up there with chimpanzees and dolphins. Elephants live for decades, and travel in family groups led by older females.
To be successful, they need to be able to keep track of friends and enemies, and they need to navigate long distances over complicated terrain as the climate changes year after year. African elephants have been known to lead their families to long forgotten watering holes in times of drought, to remember injuries and mistreatment, and to recognise the clothing of people who have done them harm.
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