Elephant "Speaks" Like a Human—Uses Trunk to Shape Sound
Zoo elephant can say "good," "no," "hello," and "sit down," study says.
Six years ago, this video clip, sent by the flummoxed staff of the Everland Zoo, hit the inbox of elephant-communication researcher Joyce Poole of ElephantVoices. The footage was the first look scientists would have of Koshik, the Korean-speaking elephant.
"This is amazing," Poole, a Conservation Trust grantee for the National Geographic Society, had written at the time. (National Geographic News is part of the Society.)
"I can't see any chance that it is being faked, and it is certainly a human voice that is being imitated." She passed the clip to colleagues. Somebody needed to check this out—could this possibly be genuine?
Fast-forward six years, and confirmation has finally arrived in a new study led by one of Poole's former colleagues, Angela
