Who are you calling Dumbo? Brainy elephant thinks out of the box to reach tasty fruit

By Lee Moran


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Innovative elephant: Kandula used a box in the corner of his enclosure to stand on to pick berries


This young elephant had to really think out of the box when it came to reaching for a tasty treat.

Kandula was left slightly stumped when he realised a branch of tempting berries in his enclosure was out of his grasp.

But the brainy Asian elephant soon stumbled upon an innovative solution - rolling a box he spotted in the corner over to the tree, which he used to stand on and grab the fruit.


His eureka moment at Smithsonian National Zoo, Washington, was discovered during a study by City of New York University and Smithsonian Institute researchers.

Trial co-author Diana Reiss said that during several sessions of the study seven-year-old Kandula just stared at the hanging fruit and ignored the box nearby.

Rolling: Kandula used his trunk to move the box from the corner of his enclosure to beneath the berry-bearing tree

Rolling: Researchers said the apparent flash of insight was the first evidence that elephants can run problem-solving scenarios in their heads


Rolled: Kandula earned his tasty treat after using thinking out of the box to reach the branch


She said: 'He did not attempt to use a tool to reach the food for seven, 20-minute sessions on seven different days.

'And then he finally had what looked to be this sudden revelation, and he headed right over to the block, pushed it in a direct line right underneath the fruit, and stepped right up on it and got the food in one swift movement.

'We can't get inside their heads, but the fact that he immediately went over to the block suggests that he was imagining the process ahead of time.'

She added that his apparent flash of insight was the first evidence that pachderms can run problem-solving scenarios in their heads.




source:dailymail