Reddit mentions of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel

I read the book Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, and it turns out Elephants are smart enough to differentiate between humans based on their clothing and language. When researchers played recordings of the indigenous Maasai people (known for poaching elephants) the elephants showed distress and became aggressive. Same thing occurred when researchers presented themselves in Maasai clothing/attire, although the elephants were even smart enough to understand they weren't a threat after investigating a bit longer.

It's really astonishing what they're capable of. They travel thousands of miles and stop to mourn when they pass places where family had died, years after the fact. So to me it's likely that the elephant knew exactly what they were doing.

Edit: Here's a source from National Geographic for the Maasai experiment I mentioned

You may enjoy the book Beyond Words, in which the author, Carl Safina, spends time with researchers studying wolves in Yellowstone. He also spends time with elephant and orca researchers. All three are species are incredibly intelligent and highly social.

eta: link

If you're truly open to learning more about this, there's TONS of good stuff on google scholar.

Most animal cognitive scientists are in consensus that (a) at the very least, animals are sentient and feel pain and can suffer and many additionally believe that they're (b) conscious too.

This is a great book on the topic that encompasses decades of research and fieldwork

Elephants are extremely intelligent animals with fairly complex social structures.

Researchers once played a recording of a call from a deceased elephant from speakers near that elephant's herd and the elephants spent days searching for their dead friend. The humans felt so bad about this they didn't try it again.

Kind of depends on what kind of vegan he is and what he already has.

Good book for ethical vegan:

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Words-What-Animals-Think/dp/1250094593

Good book for health vegan:

https://nutritionfacts.org/cookbook/