Watch a clever elephant use a hose to clean itself

Two elephants at the Berlin Zoo have found a way to use a hose as a flexible shower head. Not only do they use water to clean themselves, but they have been seen turning off the water, possibly as a prank. The behaviors are yet another example of the use of tools in non-human animals and are detailed in a study published on November 8 in the journal Cell Press. Current Biology.

The use of tools is known everywhere in the animal world. Chimpanzees use sticks as tools to reach different places than honey. Crows also use sticks to search for hidden food sources. Humpback whales catch fish with “bubble nets,” which some scientists consider to be a tool. Now, it seems that some of the elephants at the Berlin Zoo in Germany like to use pipes—especially an Asian elephant named Mary.

Video footage of a 2024 Current Biology paper on elephant water resource use.METHODS: Urban et al./Current Biology

VIDEO: Video abstract of a 2024 Current Biology paper on elephant water resource use. CREDIT: Urban et al./Current Biology

“Elephants are amazing with hoses,” Michael Brecht, co-author and Humboldt University of Berlin neuroscientist said in a statement. “As is often the case with elephants, the behavior of using stick tools varies greatly from animal to animal; Mary the elephant is the rain queen.”

Study co-author and Humboldt University of Berlin PhD student Lena Kaufmann observed Mary using the hose as a shower and took some pictures. The team was immediately fascinated by this behavior and co-author Lea Urban decided to investigate it in detail.

Brecht says: “I used to think of hoses as tools, but what came out of Lea’s work is that elephants have a perfect understanding of these tools.

[Related: Neanderthals likely used glue to make tools.]

They discovered that Maria was washing her body systematically. He connects the water pipe using his hands. He often uses his trunk to hold the hose on the back end to use as a hard shower head. In order to get to his back, he uses a lasso-like strategy. He pulls the pipe up and throws it over his body. When Mary was given a larger and heavier tube, she washed her trunk instead of washing too many and useless tubes.

According to the team, this behavior provides a new example of the use of resources directed at animals. However, what really surprised them was the way an Asian elephant named Anchali behaved during Mary’s bath.

Both elephants showed aggressive interactions during the shower. At one point, Anchali started pulling the hose away from her and Maria. This lifted and kinked the hose and obstructed the flow of water. Although the team is not sure about Anchali’s motive for this, it appeared that she was exhibiting some kind of behavior of using second hand tools, possibly as an act of vandalism.

The trunkstand on top of the water also impedes the flow of water through the hose. SOURCE: Urban et al-Current Biology

VIDEO: ‘Sticks’ on the surface of the water also obstructs the flow of water through the hose. SOURCE: Urban et al-Current Biology

Brecht says: “What was surprising was Anchali’s nonchalant attitude. No one thought he would be smart enough to pull off such a trick.

According to Brecht, there was much debate in the laboratory about Anchali’s behavior and what it might mean. Then, the group saw Anchali find another way to distract Mary from showering. In this second case, he made what researchers call a “trunkstand” to prevent the flow of water. Anchali put her trunk on the hose and lowered her body on it.

Anchali’s Kink and clamp behavior. The authors of this study were very surprised by this behavior. SOURCE: Urban et al-Current Biology

VIDEO: Anchali’s Kink and clamp behavior. The authors of this study were very surprised by this behavior. SOURCE: Urban et al-Current Biology

Elephants are trained not to step on pipes and rarely do. The team suspects that this is why Anchali devised a more complex way to stop the water from flowing during Mary’s rains without stepping on it.

“When Anchali came up with the second behavior that interrupted the flow of water to Mary, I became very convinced that she was trying to destroy Mary,” Brecht said.

[Related: Female sea otters use tools more than males.]

According to the team, the results are a reminder of how elephants are able to control and use tools. This is possible because of the grip strength of their trunks. These organs contain an estimated 150,000 muscles and may be the most sensitive organ found in mammals. The team hopes to explore what the discovery of captive elephants means for elephants in their natural habitats.

“Do elephants play tricks in the wild?” Brecht asked. “When I saw Anchali’s first appearance, I laughed. Now, I wonder, does Anchali think this is funny too, or is she just mean?