Memory Like an Elephant

Have you ever given much thought to how smart elephants are? After reading about Batyr (an elephant born and raised in captivity who learned to speak) I found myself wanting to know more about them. Elephants are up there with chimpanzees,great apes,dolphins and crows in intelligence. Not only do elephants cooperate to solve problems they also feel empathy and exhibit self awareness,the complex ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. Now for a little more about Batyr,Batyr lived in a Kazakhstan zoo and had never been around his own kind. He learned to speak Russian by putting his trunk to his mouth and mimicking words he had heard,he was first discovered muttering to himself in his enclosure. His life was cut short when he died from anesthesia administered to do work on his feet. More recently in Seoul,Korea another elephant,Kosik,was heard by a keeper saying words to itself. Kind of makes a person rethink their choice in pets! The photo is of Kosik.