An Asian elephant named Koshik , who lived in South Korea for five years when he was just a baby, is capable of pronouncing five words in the Korean language , according to scientists at the University of Vienna in a study published by the journal Current Biology. . Specifically, the pachyderm says "annyong" (hello), "anja" (sit down), "aniya" (no), "nuo" (lie down) and "choah" (good). The most curious thing is that the animal even imitates the tone of voice of its trainers, despite the enormous anatomical differences that exist between elephants and humans. Not surprisingly, as study co-author Angela Stoeger recalls, this mammal lacks lips and instead has a huge trunk.
Some African elephants had previously been observed to mimic the sound of tractors, and there were rumors that an Asian elephant from a zoo in Kazakhstan could speak Russian, although it had never been scientifically proven. In the case of Koshik, the researchers attribute this behavior to the fact that the animal lived for 5 years in the Everland Zoo in Korea without any other elephants nearby, and that humans were its only contact, so it probably developed the vocalizations to "bond. social "with their caregivers .
