ANIMAL CURIOSITIES
The web goes crazy for Pang Pha: the Berlin Zoo elephantess who loves to peel bananas
A video of a very tender elephantess with a particular mania: peeling bananas, choosing which ones to eat (and peel) and which ones to discard.
It happens at the Berlin Zoo, starring the elephantess Pang Pha. The international media are viewing the video, posted on YouTube / Science X, in which the specimen devours yellow and green bananas with the whole peel, discards the brown ones but, if you give her a banana with just a little bit of spots, you can see her carefully peel it before eating it.
This is not the first time we have seen videos of elephants peeling fruit, particularly bananas, but it is undoubtedly a beautiful example of a very curious behaviour.
The web goes crazy for Pang Pha: the Berlin Zoo elephantess who loves to peel bananas
A video of a very tender elephantess with a particular mania: peeling bananas, choosing which ones to eat (and peel) and which ones to discard. It happens at the Berlin Zoo, starring the elephantess Pang Pha. The international media are viewing the video, posted on YouTube / Science X, in which the specimen devours yellow and green bananas with the whole peel, discards the brown ones but, if you give her a banana with just a little bit of spots, you can see her carefully peel it before eating it. This is not the first time we have seen videos of elephants peeling fruit, particularly bananas, but it is undoubtedly a beautiful example of a very curious behaviour.
An elephantess with peculiar tastes
Media around the world are focusing their attention on Pang Pha, an elephantess at the Berlin Zoo with very peculiar food tastes indeed. In fact, in addition to carefully choosing the type of bananas to eat, she also performs acts of extreme dexterity, even going so far as to peel the bananas before eating them.
What the likes (and dislikes) of Pang Pha
The method of sorting is really peculiar and unique in that it is a behavior that she has never been taught by any of the staff working in the park. Specifically, the animal devours whole green and yellow bananas, badly tosses overripe ones, and engages in peeling yellow ones with some brown spots.
The video on Youtube
A video in which the zookeeper shows the elephant at work, intending to eat the three types of bananas, was posted directly on Youtube /Science X. The images leave one speechless, watching the critical thinking of the animal with its own food. Also very funny is when the girl hands Pang Pha, twice, an overripe banana, and twice the pachyderm carelessly flings it away.
A very accurate proboscis
The operation of peeling the banana, you can see in the video, is extremely delicate and graceful. It is hard for the uninitiated to believe that an animal of such size is capable of such precision operations, yet this is another way in which nature always somehow manages to surprise us.
Different in social situations
Also in the video posted on YouTube, however, it was noted that Pang Pha 's behavior changes depending on the presence, or absence, of another specimen. In fact, when found eating in the company of another of its species, the animal chooses to peel only the last banana, leaving it as a kind of dessert at the end of the meal.
The behavior of Pang Pha
Michael Brecht, a neuroscientist at the Humboldt University of the German Capital, says, "She is quite skilled. She has clearly optimized behavior." Most likely, he argues, the elephant learned this behavior from observing park attendants peeling bananas for her. However, it is not something she was directly taught.
Animal Curiosities
21/06/2024
The world is beautiful because it is diverse, is a phrase we have heard a thousand times, and this is true not only for human beings, but also for animals.
On our planet, the variety of fauna is far greater than that of human beings, who are basically almost all the same. On the other hand, in the most remote parts of the Earth, but not only there, there are absolutely unique species of animals, so much so that they even enter Guinness World Record. Birds, fish, mammals, so many characteristics that make them absolutely recognizable, and also very rare.
Animal lovers, keep us company and discover all the most bizarre beasts on the planet.