This is actually an Indian Elephant, but this is incredible.

Elephant Video

The ironic thing is that this was sent to me by a tree hugger who asked, "So, do you still think it is ok to hunt Elephant?"

I responded to him and told him why it was ok ... and thanked him for the video.

Enjoy.

Unbelievable. My wife wants me to send that to her mother. If I do that, I'll never get to hunt an elephant!

Incredible. Thanks.

That is amazing. It does make you wonder what is going on in their heads. Are they just trained or are they thinking?

I just watched it and I'm still not sure if I can believe my eyes.

Sorry for being suspicious, bt I'm not sure that the video is real. Notice that they never show the whole elephant, only the end of the trunk?
I think that while we are focusing on the painting, someone has their hand in a sock or similar looking device.....does anyone agree??

PS I also think Elvis is really dead, and that Lee Harvey Oswald is the only shooter!

Just because an animal exhibits what we may assume to be some form of evolved intelligence in a wholely artificial setting does not offer proof that evolved intellectual capasity actually exists.

Wild, as in undomesticated, behavior is the only indicator of the elephants so-called intelligence. As an example: Crop raiding elephants are shot, other elephants continue to raid crops, even though they should be "aware" (given the assumption that they are as intelligent as presumed in the articifical context) that they can and will be killed if they raid crops.

Two things can be learned from this behavior: First elephants are not self aware, and second, they do not understand causal behavior. This renders any assumptions one entertains about elephants being in any way similar to humans intellectually fantastical at best.

How or why the elephants "create" the "paintings" is not delt with in an 8 min. video. This might be interesting and I suspect that some form of training is at the core of this seemingly free form art.

Anthromorphism is an extremely seductive concept, if it were not then PETA would not exist and frankly we probably would not keep pets such as dogs and cats. Most of us are ready, willing and able to place "human" contextual emotional and intellectual reasons behind our pets conditioned or reflexive actions out of our own desires to "relate" to those creatures on some romantic egalitarian plain. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you realise that you are "choosing" to act in an "imaginary and fanciful" manner.

Elephants are one of only 4 or 5 animals including humans that recognize and identify themselves in a mirror. If a spot of paint(not a bullseye) is applied to an elephant where they can only see it in a mirror and they are supplied with a mirror they will repeatedly touch the spot. Are they intelligent-no doubt. Hitler was also intelligent. I believe very few outside the world of hunters have a clue as to how destructive they can be to their own environment though.
Just my two cents.
Andy

I nwent to Chang Mai in 2004. I visited an elephant camp, maybe even this one. They seemed 'trained' to paint -- although some were artistic. The show of the elephants logging timber was very impressive! They moved huge logs with little effort. You also got to ride one around the complex and into the jungle for about an hour. They navigated hills and streams with no problem. Standing next to one gave one a great respect for them!

Wendell, invite the tree hugger to join some African Ele's for tea. I'll sell tickets to the peanut gallery and you can run the video camera. It will be a smash hit on YouTube.

This Video is a fake IMO


Seloushunter

I'm glad I shot mine when I did, before he put me out of business

My cat can play the piano. I promise not to shoot mine in Oct. if he possesses a degree from the Art Institute in Chicago.



Dutch

African elephant don't paint that well.

Probably because they use too much red.

It's true. Snopes is pretty good about getting to the bottom of these kinds of stories:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/elephantpainting.asp

Thanks Darkside.

Here is the website where the Elephants sell their paintings ...

Elephant Paintings

Astounding!!

"They don't all exhibit the same level of proficiency, and the quality of their output can be highly variable."
Humans of course are different, right?
Peter.

Wendell,

Do they do houses?

"Mrs. Khunapramot, who set up the Thai Fine Art company after studying the history of art in St Andrews and business managementat Edinburgh's Napier University, said it took a month to train the animals to paint." quote from BBC News, ref; www.snopes.com

P.T.Barnum could not have done a better job...

Thanks, Wendell. One may speak about anthropormorphism all they want to, but that is remarkable behavior from an elephant.

I know the news isn't always 100% accurate (especially when it comes to elephants and such things) but this was a headline on the news for Yahoo either yesterday or this morning. Amazing, but I'd still like to hunt them!

MR,

If ever we meet I will buy you a dink for that one.

Are you related to Borer Blixen?

"Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die."

Brett

The elephant at the Anchorage Zoo was taught to paint - this was like ten years ago. The zoo keepers wanted to give the elephant an activity to do because they were worried that she would get bored and restless from being kept inside all winter long (she lived in a giant elephant barn). The zoo keepers said she loved to paint and they would let her do it once a day. They would then sell the paintings at the gift shop to help raise revenue. My buddy has one up in his living room. They just looked like an elephant painted it - just a bunch of spashes from a brush on a piece of paper.

I didnt go to the swope report but the word i got about that youtube video is that the elephant was trained to make exact patterns/strokes on the paper. They definitely can pick up a brush and put it on paper but they can not draw. Still - the elephant never ceases to amaze me on how remarkable they are.

i will have to say i did not believe it but my kids actually saw this in thailand and begging to differ the elephants they saw did draw and were pretty good at it!amazing!

Pretty interesting. I wonder how many brushes, easels, etc. that ele has broken while learning? Maybe a trainer or two as well.

Wendell, I showed my wife and she immediately said, "And you're going to shoot another one?"

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
Wendell, I showed my wife and she immediately said, "And you're going to shoot another one?"

"Yes, I am, but I promise, it won't be an Indian Elephant like the one in the film."

Marriage is about compromise.

I should have said I promise to wait until the ele puts down the paint brush.