Yes elephants can recognize themselves in the mirror but their
cognition, cleverness and innovation goes well beyond that:
<ol type=A>
<li>A remarkable video entitled
<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIseFGvj8pY">Intelligence of
  an elephant - The effort the calf took to break the wood!</a> and
  this is just a calf! He or she tries one strategy after another,
  using the trunk to reposition at another angle; using the trunk to
  hold up or at least support while pressing down with the foot; using
  another angle *and* pressing the foot down at another location and
  the trunk still in play. After 1:45 minutes you think 'very clever'
  but  unsuccessful and finally yet another variant and combination of
  methods is used to reach...success! (at 2:05 mark of 2:25min video)
And not that different in
the <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7p35JJeOFE">wild</a> in
these scene.


<P><LI><A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfLdpyqxJA">Elephant
    uses it's "hand" to use water foundain. (another improvises how to 
    <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocK3DJnQRrA">get around</a>
 train track barriers it was clearly not previously familiar with)

<P><LI><A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwIUa9lKZ-k">Popcorn puzzle</a>

<P><li>Elephants and  solve puzzles requiring two
  to <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXcRw6Piaj8">cooperate<a/>
  In fact they elephant "even figured out short cuts the ressearchers
  hadn't thought of" (another vid states it took
  only <A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq7vAGGSjVM">3
  tries</a> to figure out this entirely new (to them) puzzle</a>)


<P><LI>This video footage is
  entitled<A HREF="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZonUYXe4Fc">sometimes
  Animal's more clever than human</a> but notice how even despite
  having a "finger" or two at the tip of its nose for fine handling,
  sometimes that's not enough and a combination of the
  trunk/trunk-"fingers" and a foot is used to lift up cans. 

</ol>
<font size=5>But how much
  more could elephants accomplish -- elephants being sentiment beings whose brains are clearly well "wired" for use
  of a "hand" (it's trunk and two trunk "<A HREF="http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/SIOW/2011/10/the-elephants-trunk.html">fingers</a>" in African or one
  trunk "finger" in Asian elephant)  -- were they ethically[link] provided 
with a robotic mind-controlled extra hand(s) and arm(s) potentialy
  dramatically expanding  their dexterity, ability to explore, to use
  tools, and to communicate with one another -- and with humans? Able 
to use Sign Language like Chimps and Bonobos have, who have surprised
us with being able to learn 100s of signs and to commuincate in simple 
ways but also form their own word combinations to describe new novel
  experiences, and more? 

<p> Also [LINK HERE ] project to help them speak
  out louad
</font>