r/interestingasfuck • u/gururaj-nayak • 19h ago

The smart elephant outsmarts an electric fence to reach the crops

3.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

100 comments sorted by

242

u/The_SwanPrincess 19h ago

Elephants are ridiculously smart lol. Imagine spending money installing an electric fence just for an elephant to figure out how to get past it.

98

u/cookiemon32 19h ago

imagine knowing theres an elephant constantly studying and thinking how to get past the electric fence u just installed. like while u r sleeping the elephant is just sitting there, thinking how to get around it. knowing it will eventually figure it out lol

35

u/cleveland_leftovers 19h ago

Cue elephant as the lady with the math flying all around her head meme.

15

u/Fedantry_Petish 19h ago

0

u/Red_Franzia 18h ago

PERFECT, here's your award!

-2

u/Fedantry_Petish 18h ago

D’aw, thanks. ☺️

-4

u/cookiemon32 18h ago

now make the elephant look focused

-6

u/Fedantry_Petish 18h ago

-8

u/cookiemon32 17h ago

less crosseyed, more staring straight ahead

6

u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 18h ago edited 11h ago

My question is, how do they think through stuff like this without a language?

34

u/Sorry_Community235 18h ago

Bold of you to assume they don't have language.

But on a more serious note, there are humans who have no inner voice and can't "talk" to themselves. They think in pictures and actions. Basically, the elephant is visualizing their potential actions and how they could change the given situation. And since they have a basic understanding of mechanics, they can anticipate what would happen if they do x, y or z and act accordingly.

•

u/TruePadawan 6h ago

Those humans, could they not just imagine someone saying the words

•

u/Sorry_Community235 4h ago

We don't know, honestly. The term "anendophasia" was coined just 2 years ago. And it is not known whether those ppl actually do not have an inner voice. They may just be oblivious to it for some reason.

More research needs to be done.

•

u/elciteeve 4h ago

I feel as though my default language is music and images, and I have to translate everything into language to communicate with others. My internal thoughts aren't based on words, it's all sound and images. I am incredibly good at problem solving and not very good at explaining my solutions to people.

13

u/jim_uses_CAPS 18h ago

Language isn't necessary for symbolic reasoning.

11

u/hskskgfk 15h ago

Not just elephants, humans have lots of thoughts and logical reasoning that we don’t use language to reason through.

•

u/Leather_Status907 4h ago

Esatto.

Inoltre la scelta primaria del cervello di certe persone non è il linguaggio ma immagini o emozioni , così sono molti autistici ad alta funzionalità.

4

u/Trashinmyash 15h ago

What you know is not the same as what someone else knows.

•

u/Ongargis 9m ago

It was probably having a snack while it thought about how to get past it to more or better snacks.

7

u/sampathsris 12h ago

Sri Lankan here. It's become an arms race. Now we have electrified covers for the fence poles exactly because of this. (I think the footage could have been from Sri Lanka, even. I'm not sure).

•

u/DuvalTID 4h ago

You think they’ll ever figure out they can use something like a branch to do the pushing for them?

•

u/sampathsris 2h ago

Oh they do. If they can find a dead tree they're known to carry it and dump it on the wires.

60% of the Sri Lankan elephant population lives outside reservations. Elephant-human clashes are a big problem. Some elephants are into ransoming food if they can find a nearby highway. You could find plenty of clips in YouTube.

237

u/Plane_Package1417 19h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/3oKIPvND7gEInk98Eo

71

u/Futuramoist 19h ago

It's been testing the electric fence, but never the same place twice. It's like it never forgets...

18

u/CDBSB 19h ago

"They remember."

77

u/Richardthe3rdleg 19h ago

am I tripping or does it seem like the elephant has a coy or clever look on its face as it's doing this?

101

u/Israel_Azkanbe 19h ago

22

u/hskskgfk 15h ago

“Lmao @ these idiot humans” - elephant

19

u/Red_Franzia 19h ago

Dang y'all don't miss a thing!!! 😂😂😂

11

u/cactikirby 19h ago

I can’t unsee it now

•

u/skubasteevo 7h ago

When it actually knocks the post over at 27 seconds it looks to me like it stretches it's other leg out as sort of an "Oh don't mind me, I'm just stretching. Oops!"

84

u/MaximusMansteel 19h ago

Imagine trying to protect your crops from elephants lol.

14

u/octoreadit 19h ago

"Here, at Prime Star Elephant Pest Control we know your pain more than anyone else. Call us now to get a quote."

•

u/kurburux 10h ago

Probably also trying to protect elephants from farmers :/

20

u/DisgruntledAardvark 19h ago

Knowing how intelligent they are, it'll probably go and teach the other elephants to do that to fences.

46

u/DMmeNiceTitties 19h ago

I... didn't realize their trunks were that strong.

36

u/DyingSunSeverian 19h ago

The big boys can lift up to like 700 lbs I believe, but they have such dexterity with them they can hold an egg without cracking it (and also slap a human in the face with it, gently lol).

9

u/DMmeNiceTitties 19h ago

That's crazy. And it's all boneless, no?

14

u/DyingSunSeverian 19h ago

No bone, it’s basically all skin and muscle (and obviously a whole lot of nerves and blood vessels).

15

u/EvaTheE 19h ago

Their skulls are also super weird due to how huge the trunk is. Some people believe elephant skulls were the origin for stories about giant cyclops.

7

u/Yuri909 19h ago

Mammoth skulls dug up in Greek fields

3

u/EvaTheE 19h ago

They brought all kinds of stuff from Africa to Europe... Including people, stories and bones.

2

u/sjogren 18h ago

Europe had mammoths as well, a few years ago. A hot minute ago. Cold minute*

1

u/memesearches 15h ago

In India they call it blessing. They train it to do that and you can find them outside temples for this very thing

8

u/Brilliant_Park_2882 19h ago

I watched a video of one pulling out a tree taller than they were, could definitely lift someone into the air if they wanted to.

5

u/DMmeNiceTitties 19h ago

My admiration for elephants just went up with the tree too. That's impressive.

1

u/Israel_Azkanbe 19h ago

There was a tik tok of a woman holding onto an elephant trunk and the elephant lifted her and put her on its back with ease too.

6

u/Beneficial_Wonder533 19h ago

No idea what the solution here is. seems like the elephant is going to win.

5

u/No-Bag-1628 13h ago

apparently just growing easy to grow stuff elephants like eating outside of the crops works.

•

u/well-hung-dugite 11h ago

Elephants are terrified of bees, so farmers in Kenya put bee hives with strings next to their crops and if an elephant trips over it, the bees are alerted. It's also a good byproduct to have honey, if the bees aren't invasive

1

u/igloojoe 13h ago

Grow ghost peppers in with the crops? Or spray their pepper juice all over the crops.

6

u/More-Advantage6261 19h ago

Uno reverse Tesla.

15

u/dr-mantis-toboggan12 19h ago

Give the elephant the damn crops

9

u/Traditional_Isopod80 19h ago

Elephants are so smart.

3

u/Marsupialwolf 19h ago

Clever girl!

2

u/MentalCanary972 19h ago

Part of me wants to know how many volts are in that fence?

2

u/iluvvivapuffs 15h ago

He figured out which part is insulator, and shorted the circuit?? lol

•

u/dirtymoney 8h ago edited 8h ago

running a loop of electrified wire up and down the post would defeat this tactic.

Would be fascinating what new tactic the elephant would come up with next . Like pushing a tree over so it knocked down the fence

3

u/theatrenearyou 19h ago

I can barely push a shotglass with my nose. And elephant is basically defusing a bomb and knows what parts she can touch

1

u/hskskgfk 15h ago

He. Only the male asiatic elephant has tusks that big.

3

u/Tiger_Ho26 18h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/12onQxcLlPQdtm

2

u/jim_uses_CAPS 18h ago

I want that to be real.

7

u/heyiamlucifer 17h ago

I am not sure about this particular footage but I remember seeing an elephant drawing with brushes before the AI times

•

u/opelan 5h ago

They can draw for sure. But I don't think anything so much in detail like that elephant.

2

u/FredTillson 19h ago

They’re so interesting

1

u/jc21095 14h ago

Wasn’t there a case a few years ago where they tried to give elephants human rights because they were so smart?

3

u/sampathsris 12h ago

There was a recent case in Sri Lanka where one of the petitioners was an elephant, on the basis that even though elephants don't have human rights, they have basic rights such as right to live. The court accepted it. Of course the elephant was represented by a human, but still it was a landmark moment of the law.

•

u/SmackyLittleFan 9h ago

Gaza shows it would have made fuck all difference

•

u/MagnificentCat 2h ago

No you need to give them the vote, then they will be treated well.

If Gazans had the vote in Israeli elections...

Now there aren't so many elephants, but if they get statehood and two senators, I think they'll be treated mighty fine

•

u/NlghtmanCometh 33m ago

Wait Gaza existing means no humans have rights or

1

u/Tbplayer59 19h ago

Thus the phrase, "Dumb as a fence post." .

1

u/JohnnyPaloonky58 19h ago

Is the shock even enough?

3

u/wegqg 15h ago

Yes it will be a bastard fucking shock if it's designed for elephants... You can bet it would otherwise just push it over..

1

u/iBUYbrokenSUBARUS 18h ago

Can you imagine pushing a fence post over with your nose?

1

u/VermicelliFederal976 14h ago

I think we need to know what crop the elephant is going for

•

u/Doiley101 11h ago

He is careful not to step on the wires.

•

u/Grouchy-One1915 10h ago

This Jumbo bro is a double major in Physics!

•

u/magusmagma 9h ago

planet of the elephants

•

u/pesca_22 3h ago

it even shown the middle proboscis to the camera.

•

u/SaltyJalapenos 3h ago

That elephant is just saying who the hell keeps putting fences up on my land!

•

u/bbcheadline 1h ago

They stay low key to avoid IRS

1

u/Wonderful_Round_6395 19h ago

And we think we're the smartest ones?

2

u/Gambler_720 13h ago

Yes because we are