An Asian elephant at the Berlin Zoo, Pang Pha, taught herself to peel bananas with her trunk by watching her keepers.
Scientists recently discovered a new elephant behavior that is simply bananas. An Asian elephant at the Berlin Zoo can use her trunk to peel bananas before eating them, a new study reveals.
An incredible video shows the elephant, named Pang Pha, first grasp the banana with the end of her trunk. Then, she twists her trunk around on itself, breaks the banana by ripping off the stem end, and throws the rest on the ground. She then picks up the banana again, this time by pinching the frayed peel with her trunk, and uses the banana's weight to methodically peel the fruit. This might not be exactly the way keepers peel bananas, but it's a remarkable feat for a thumbless animal.
But Kaufmann was bringing green bananas, fresh from the supermarket, and Pang Pha would simply swallow them whole. When Kaufmann offered Pang Pha a more ripe banana, one with little brown spots on the peel, the elephant grasped the banana and carefully opened it to get at the pulp inside. "At first, I gave her a [brown banana] and she basically dropped it and left it on the floor,” said Kaufmann."After that, I gave her a second one, and immediately she threw it at me."
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