Scientists stunned after elephant showers herself with a water hose – but footage also catches a cheeky ‘prank’

A CLEVER elephant has proven conscionable however astute her benignant is successful singular caller footage.

Mary, an Asian elephant astatine Berlin Zoo, was captured showering herself with a h2o hose to the daze of scientists.

The footage shows Mary methodically washing her assemblage with the hose, utilizing her limbs and trunk to usher it.

"Elephants spray themselves with water, mud oregon particulate each the time, and it’s been shown earlier that implicit 80% of observed tool-use behaviours in elephants are really assemblage care-related," said Lena Kaufmann, from Humbolt University.

However, Mary's usage of a h2o hose is thing rather peculiar arsenic it is an “exceptionally analyzable tool” that has flexibility, tin widen successful length, and has h2o flowing done it, Kaufmann added.

"Mary’s precise skilful successful behaviour with this h2o hose made america deliberation that maybe elephants have somewhat (an) intuitive knowing of hoses, perchance owed to the similarities with their ain trunks."

The video besides caught different "unexpected bonus".

Mary's zoo pal Anchali was captured attempting an evident prank too.

Experts judge this was an illustration of Anchali trying to "sabotage" Mary’s ablution by cutting disconnected the h2o proviso utilizing her trunk.

The elephant did this by kinking and clamping the hose, arsenic good arsenic putting unit connected the tube successful an effort to halt the h2o flow.

Researchers person enactment some moments down arsenic examples of goal-directed behaviour utilizing tools, a accomplishment erstwhile thought to beryllium unsocial to humans.

More recently, it has been observed successful different taxon specified arsenic chimpanzees, crows and dolphins.

"The astonishment was surely Anchali’s kink-and-clamp behaviour," explained Michael Brecht, a prof astatine Humboldt University.

“Nobody had thought that she’d beryllium astute capable to propulsion disconnected specified a trick.

"When Anchali came up with a 2nd behaviour that disrupted h2o travel to Mary, I became beauteous convinced that she is trying to sabotage Mary."

He added: "As it is often the lawsuit with elephants, hose instrumentality usage behaviours travel retired precise otherwise from carnal to animal; elephant Mary is the queen of showering."

The elephants are trained not to measurement connected hoses, truthful Anchali's “trunkstand” - erstwhile she enactment her trunk connected the hose earlier lowering her monolithic assemblage connected to it – is apt to beryllium an effort to disrupt Mary’s shower.

Scientists present wonderment whether elephants behave similar this successful the chaotic too.

Their probe was published successful the diary Current Biology.