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An Asian elephant has been dubbed the “queen of showering” after it was filmed washing itself with a hose in a German zoo, demonstrating “remarkable skill”, according to stunned scientists.
Mary was seen on camera at Berlin Zoo using her trunk to methodically wash her body with a hose, lifting up her limbs to ensure she got in all the crevices, in what researchers called “sophisticated behaviour”.
But another elephant – perhaps jealous of Mary’s unusual expertise in self-hygiene – attempted to sabotage her happy shower, in what astonished scientists described as an “unexpected bonus”.
Anchali the elephant was caught using her trunk to try and cut off the water, clamping the hose and putting pressure on the pipe in an attempt to stop her pal from washing.
Both animals exhibited goal-directed behaviour using tools, according to researchers at the Humboldt University of Berlin. This is a skill once believed to be unique to humans but has recently been observed in chimpanzees, crows, dolphins and other species.
Michael Brecht of Humboldt University said: “Elephants are amazing with hoses. As it is often the case with elephants, hose tool use behaviours come out very differently from animal to animal; elephant Mary is the queen of showering.”
Lena Kaufmann of Humboldt University, who filmed Mary’s shower, added: “Elephants spray themselves with water, mud or dust all the time, and it’s been shown before that over 80% of observed tool-use behaviours in elephants are actually body care-related.”
But a water hose is an “exceptionally complex tool”, as it is flexible, can extend, and has water flowing through it, she said.
“Mary’s very skillful behaviour with this water hose made us think that maybe elephants have somewhat (an) intuitive understanding of hoses, potentially due to the similarities with their own trunks,” Ms Kaufman added.
Anchali and Mary were interacting aggressively, said researchers. Anchali is seen pulling the hose towards herself and twisting it as she attempts to cut off the water supply.
Prof Brecht said: “The surprise was certainly Anchali’s kink-and-clamp behaviour. Nobody had thought that she’d be smart enough to pull off such a trick.”
Elephants are usually trained not to step on hoses – so Anchali’s attempts to put pressure on the hose to cut off supply is likely to be a deliberate attempt to cut off Mary’s shower.
“When Anchali came up with a second behaviour that disrupted water flow to Mary, I became pretty convinced that she is trying to sabotage Mary,” Prof Brecht said.
Mary was observed grasping the hose behind its tip to use it like a stiff shower head. She also preferred to use it on her right side, but was able to adapt her technique based on the type of hose, researchers said.
“Elephants are amazing with hoses. As it is often the case with elephants, hose tool use behaviours come out very differently from animal to animal; elephant Mary is the queen of showering.”
Prof Brecht also raised questions on whether elephants behave similarly in the wild.
“Do elephants play tricks on each other in the wild? When I saw Anchali’s kink and clamp for the first time, I broke out in laughter. So I wonder, does Anchali also think this is funny, or is she just being mean?”
The researchers’ findings have been published in the journal Current Biology.
