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In a study published in 2006, an Asian elephant called Happy at the Bronx Zoo in New York passed the mirror test: after a white cross was painted on her head, she looked into a large mirror and kept touching the mark with her trunk. Few animals pass this classic test of self-recognition.

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The mirror test was devised in 1970 by the American psychologist Gordon Gallup Jr. An animal is marked where it can see the mark only in a mirror; if it uses the mirror to inspect the mark on its own body, it seems to recognise itself. Chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans pass, as do bottlenose dolphins and, in a 2008 study, Eurasian magpies. In the elephant study, Joshua Plotnik, Frans de Waal and Diana Reiss gave Happy, Maxine and Patty a mirror 2.4 metres square. All three used it to inspect hidden parts of their bodies, but only Happy touched the painted mark; the researchers suggest the others may not have cared about a small spot of paint. In 2022 Happy became a legal test case: New York's highest court ruled 5–2 that she could not be freed under habeas corpus, the right that protects people from unlawful detention.

Türkçe oku
New York'taki Bronx Hayvanat Bahçesi'nde yaşayan Happy adlı Asya fili, 2006'da yayımlanan bir araştırmada ayna testini geçti: Başına beyaz boyayla bir çarpı işareti çizildikten sonra büyük bir aynaya baktı ve işarete hortumuyla defalarca dokundu. Kendini tanımayı ölçen bu klasik testi çok az hayvan geçebiliyor.

Ayna testini 1970'te Amerikalı psikolog Gordon Gallup Jr. geliştirdi. Testte hayvanın, ancak aynada görebileceği bir yerine işaret konur. Hayvan aynaya bakarak kendi bedenindeki işareti incelerse, yansımanın kendisi olduğunu anladığı düşünülür. Şempanzeler, bonobolar ve orangutanlar bu testi geçer; afalina yunusları ve 2008'deki bir çalışmada saksağanlar da geçti. Joshua Plotnik, Frans de Waal ve Diana Reiss'ın fil araştırmasında Happy, Maxine ve Patty'nin önüne 2,4 metreye 2,4 metrelik bir ayna kondu. Üç fil de aynada normalde göremedikleri yerlerine baktı, ama boyalı işarete yalnızca Happy dokundu. Araştırmacılara göre öteki iki fil küçük bir boya lekesini önemsememiş olabilir. Happy 2022'de emsal niteliğinde bir davanın konusu oldu: New York'un en yüksek mahkemesi 5'e karşı 2 oyla, onun habeas corpus yoluyla serbest bırakılamayacağına karar verdi. Habeas corpus, insanları hukuka aykırı biçimde alıkonmaya karşı koruyan haktır.

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Background reading: Mirror test
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