Adorable elephant at Chinese zoo delights visitors by returning dropped shoe to child
Boy feeds elephant handful of grass to show his gratitude
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An elephant at a zoo in China delighted visitors after it picked up a shoe dropped by a child and returned it to him.
The elephant at Weihai zoo in Shandong province was inside its enclosure when the boy dropped his shoe, reported the South China Morning Post.
The tusker then picked up the shoe by wrapping his trunk around it before returning it to the boy’s outstretched hand.
Delighted, the boy picked up a handful of grass and fed the elephant to show his gratitude.
“Elephants are really warm and smart!” the boy was quoted as saying.
According to the zoo’s management, the 25-year-old male elephant is named “Mountain Range” and is a favourite with visitors at the zoo.
“Because the elephant has interacted with people so frequently, he has basic communication skills with humans,” a staff member told ThePaper.cn.
“It is an Asian elephant, and he will also help pick up water bottles every day,” the staffer said.
Zoo management gave Mountain Range a bonus meal for helping the boy, according to another staff member.
“We spoke with the elephant keeper and discovered that elephants typically enjoy watermelon and bananas,” the staff member said.
“We then brought him a watermelon and several bunches of bananas to feed him. A couple of days later, we brought him more watermelons, bananas and peaches.”
“Because elephants have a big appetite, we tried to feed him less but have more frequent meals so he could enjoy the fruits he likes more often,” the person added.
Staff members said that the elephant later showed off his earned watermelon.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments