Only Slightly Ripe Bananas Peeled by Elephant

Did you know that elephants can peel bananas? Researchers at Zoo Berlin have discovered that Pang Pha, an Asian elephant, has a unique way of eating bananas. She uses her trunk to break the fruit, discards the peel, and then shoves the pulp into her mouth. This behavior has been seen in just a few elephants and could provide insight into how they learn complex movements.

Neuroscientist Lena Kaufmann and her colleagues at Humboldt University of Berlin were intrigued when a zookeeper told them about Pang Pha’s banana-peeling abilities. However, it took a while for the team to replicate the behavior as it seems to depend on the ripeness of the banana. Pang Pha eats green and yellow bananas whole—peel and all. She only peels brown-spotted bananas, but they can’t be completely brown as she rejects them. Interestingly, when in the company of other elephants, she eats most yellow-brown bananas whole and saves her peeling trick for the last banana during social feeding sessions.

The researchers suspect that Pang Pha learned the behavior by observing her human caretakers. This kind of learning is extremely rare, especially for a behavior as complex as this. None of the other elephants at the zoo, including Pang Pha’s daughter, have been observed peeling bananas, suggesting that the skill is not easily passed from elephant to elephant. This study highlights the importance of studying individual animals and the diverse behaviors they exhibit.

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