Circus tricks for the 21st century

[peteyoung]

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We're all aware of those abstract paintings by elephants - you know, the non-representational Jack the Dripper kind of stuff that's bought for hundreds of dollars at Christies by professional and amateur collectors who are still knocked out that an elephant can, you know, like, mix colour.

Then a couple of years ago there was an unverified report of an elephant painting pictures of elephants, and now there's this 8-minute video going around of an elephant doing just that, in a picture that shows spacial awareness and even a sense of humour. But this picture that we see hasn't come from the elephant's own imagination - it's far too refined and aesthetic. At first sight it might be impressive, but these elephants are simply trained to impress incredulous tourists.

But enough of this fakery. If you want genuine cute (ie. if it's for real), go here.