Scientists showed how an elephant peeled and ate a banana faster than a human (video)

Biologists from Germany described the unusual eating behavior of a female Asian elephant named Pang Pa, who lives in the Berlin Zoo. Scientists have discovered that she has a habit of peeling ripe bananas before eating, and does it faster than a human. This observation was published in the journal Current Biology.

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Pang Pa and other elephants at the Berlin Zoo actively beg for bananas from their keepers, raising their trunks when they approach with the fruit. Elephants usually eat bananas whole but discard overripe, brown fruits. However, Pang Pa was less picky.

When offered a yellow-brown or brown banana, she may refuse to clean it. Instead, she takes a banana with her trunk, breaks it open, shakes it to release the pulp, and eats it immediately, throwing the skin away. In total, Pang Pa spends about 22 seconds on this process, while humans take about 90 seconds. It is worth noting that even the cleaning of the elephant turned out to be faster than that of humans.

Interestingly, Pang Pa appeared to peel bananas mostly only when she was fed separately from the other elephants. Scientists suggest that this may be related to her past. When she was at the zoo as a cub, her primary caretaker often fed her bananas, peeling them just before serving.

Although she had never been taught to do the same on purpose, she could pick up the skill from a human on her own. But peeling bananas is not an easy task for elephants, as no other elephant in the zoo has done such an act with bananas. Pang Pa's daughter had to learn a lot from her mother. At the same time, you can find videos of other elephants cleaning bananas on the Internet.

Previously, scientists from the University of St. Louis in Missouri found out that elephants can save our planet.

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