Elephants can remember the locations of water holes, migration paths, and safe routes for decades. Matriarchs, the oldest females, lead herds using memories formed many years earlier. During severe droughts, these memories can mean the difference between life and death. Younger elephants rely entirely on this stored knowledge. The phrase “elephant never forgets” exists for a reason.
This matters because memory sustains entire ecosystems. A single matriarch’s knowledge supports generations.
It also explains why removing older elephants destabilizes herds. When memory is lost, survival rates drop dramatically.
Some matriarchs have been observed leading herds back to water sources not used for over 30 years. Their brains physically store more long-term memory cells than many mammals.
Scientific American (scientificamerican.com)