"Use a hose to take a shower and play around".a tool-based elephant

Researchers have seen an elephant holding a rubber hose with its trunk and taking a shower with elaborate manipulation, and another elephant watching it twisting the hose with its trunk to prevent water from flowing.

The researchers said this shows that elephants also have the ability to use and manipulate tools elaborately.

Professor Michael Brecht's team at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, said in the scientific journal Current Biology on the 9th local time that Asian elephants at the Berlin Zoo were seen using rubber hoses to shower and twist hoses to block the flow of water.

Studies have confirmed the use of tools by non-human animals in chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants.

However, the research team pointed out that it is not clear whether elephants' use of hoses meets the criteria set for animal tool use.

The discovery also showed the elephant's amazing manipulation skills and ability to use tools, which is possible thanks to its ability to hold the elephant's trunk, suggesting a new example of goal-oriented tool use.