No, I thought it was incredible too (I just didn't post a comment). And I'm sure many others did too. It's a pretty huge viral video hit.
It could be trained behavior. But even if it is...it's still pretty darn good. What bothers me is how the elephants are treated, especially if they're trained to do this. The BBC News did a story in 2006. It seems to be part of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation project. Most elephants paint must more freeform and flowing.
The elephants most likely to have done the elephant portraits are Hong, Paya or Somjai. And it is trained behavior. Probably Hong. I kinda like the freeform stuff myself. But $350-$400 for a painting by an elephant? A little pricey for me. Granted, it's mostly a donation to the preserve that protects them.
Seems the elephants used to be working animals, hauling logs, etc. and now without a job, the Thai have created a new way to keep them working. If it's all true, it certainly is admirable. Look at this picture done by several elephants. Even if the behavior is taught, it is impressive that the elephants have such repeated fine motor control. Elephant art fetches jumbo price. 20/02/2005. ABC News Online Next, I'd like to see them teach them to word-associate with written words. It'd be interesting to see what they'd have to say.
Those are very talented animals. I tried doing something very similar involving a paint brush and a rubber band(no need to go into details) but the picture didn't look anything like an elephant when I got through.
I prefer the freeform natural elephant pictures. Interestingly enough, they have certain preferences. One elephant (and only one) prefers pointilism. Another likes to flick like Pollock. Some like horizontal arcs, waves or swirls, some prefer more horizontal. BTW the elephants aren't choosing the colors, their mahouts are. Elephants can't perceive color like we do.
Hmm.... I seem to recall that one of the links above said that the elephant drops the brush when it wants a different color. I'll have to go back and search through it and see if I can find it. Perhaps they don't perceive color as we do, but they must be able to perceive gray scale.
What I read was that they don't see colors as vibrantly as we do and may not see all colors. I know dogs don't see red. Apparently elephants do.
