Photo: dani.ronneberg/Depositphotos(Not the actual elephant.)
The cleverness of elephants has captivated scientists and animal lovers alike for decades.
They aresmart observerswithexcellent memories, and their intelligence doesnt stop there.
Photo: dani.ronneberg/Depositphotos(Not the actual elephant.)
Elephants are also adept learners.
This was recently made abundantly clear by a gentle giant named Pang Pha at the Berlin Zoo.
The Asian elephant has learned to peel bananas, much to the amazement of the zoo staff.
(click on image to enlarge)
As if that weren’t enough, Pang Pha doesnt settle for just any banana.
The brilliant mammal is a picky eater with a high standard for the fruits shell consume.
We would offer Pha bananas for weeks without her peeling a single one, the scientists point out.
Photo: coffeemill/Depositphotos(Not the actual elephant.)
With that, they learned that Pang Pha can also differentiate the fruits by their color and ripeness.
Like other elephants, Pha consumes green or yellow bananas as a whole.
Despite how impressive her ability is, Pang Pha is rather shy about it in front of her peers.
She also held onto the last banana to peel at a later time.
Though this is an impressive self-taught action, Pang Pha is not the first elephant to peel bananas.
The scientists in the paper state they’ve seen videos of other such creatures with the same trait.
However, they establish that the circumstances are what make it extraordinary.
Phas peeling behavior might relate to her life history.
When she arrived in 1987 in Berlin she was still partially bottle-fed by elephant keepers.
Her main caretaker (R.P.)
Thus, Pang Pha seems to be one in a million.
We discovered a very unique behavior,saidscientist Michael Brecht.
Photo: coffeemill/Depositphotos(Not the actual elephant.)
