Trunk talk: Elephant in S. Korea imitates human speech

Trainer Kim Jong-Gap (L) speaks to Koshik,
a 22-year-old male Asian elephant at the
Everland Zoo in Yongin, 49 kms (29 miles)
south of Seoul on November 2, 2012.
(AFP Photo/Kim Jae-Hwan)

Trunk talk: Elephant in S. Korea imitates human speech
Nov 3, 2012 | RT.com

For many years the Everland Zoo in South Korea claimed their 22-year-old elephant, Koshik, was using his trunk to imitate human speech. International scientists finally confirm the elephant indeed has a unique ability to pick up words.

The 5.5 tonne Asian elephant has learned to reproduce five Korean words. The animal puts his trunk in his mouth and produces words "annyeong" (hello), "anja" (sit down), “aniya” , "nuwo" (lie down) and "joa" (good), the scientists said in a joint paper published online in Current Biology.

Though Korean has fewer consonants than many European languages and thus may be easier to be reproduced by an animal, Koshik’s ability is still an unprecedented phenomenon, scientists say. Koshik reproduces vowels much better, with a rate of similarity of 67 per cent, the researchers said. Consonants are a bigger challenge for him.

Researchers said the sound frequency of his “words” matches that his trainers. This, according to the researchers, is the best evidence that Koshik is deliberately imitating human speech.

There’s still no evidence that the animal actually understands what he is “saying,” even despite him obeying commands to sit and lie down by zoo employees in Korean.

Other species of animals, such as parrots and mockingbirds, are known for imitating human speech. However the scientists say Koshik's ability is different, as he uses his trunk to “speak”.

Koshik the elephant was separated from two other elephants at the age of five. Zoo trainers believe that since then he began to try to reproduce human speech to bond with his new human family. The “talking” elephant became a local celebrity and was soon mentioned by international scientists, prompting a study of his speaking talents.

In 1983, employees of a zoo in Kazakhstan claimed their teenage elephant named Batyr could reproduce jaw-dropping 20 phrases in Russian, however this claim has not been confirmed as there’s been no study on the case.