Pang Pha, an elephant at Zoo Berlin, probably learned to peel bananas by observing her zookeepers.
When handed a slightly browning banana, Pang Pha, an Asian elephant at Zoo Berlin, will use her trunk to break the fruit, shake the pulp onto the ground,. The rare behavior, previously recorded in just a few elephants, could help shed light on how the animals learn complex movements.
Pang Pha ate green and yellow bananas whole — peel and all. It was only when Kaufmann offered the gentle giant a brown-spotted banana that she revealed her peeling prowess. But the fruit can’t be too brown, Kaufmann’s team found. Pang Pha rejected completely brown bananas. Initially she would place them gently on the ground in protest. Now she throws them aside.
In the company of other elephants, Pang Pha surprisingly ate most yellow-brown bananas whole. She typically saved her peeling trick for the last banana during a social feeding session.
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