An elephant at a zoo inChina picks up a child's dropped shoe and returns it to the delight of a visitor.
An elephant at Weihai Zoo in Shandong Province was in an enclosure when a boy dropped his shoe,South China His Morning Post reported.
The Tusk Beast then wrapped the shoe around the trunk, picked it up, and returned it to the outstretched boy's hand.
The delighted boy took a handful of grass and fed the elephant as a token of his gratitude.
"Elephants are so warm and smart!" the boy reportedly said.
The 25-year-old male elephant has been named "Mountain Range" and is a favorite with zoo visitors, according to zoo managers.
"Elephants have interacted with humans so often that they have basic communication skills with humans," a staff member told ThePaper.cn.
"This is an Asian elephant, and he also helps me pick up my water bottle every day," said the staff member.
Zookeepers, another staff member said, said Mountain Range gave the boy a special diet to help him.
"After speaking with elephant keepers, we learned that elephants usually like to eat watermelons and bananas," said a staff member.
"Then we fed him a watermelon and a few bunches of bananas. A few days later we brought him more watermelons, bananas and peaches."
28} "Elephants are voracious eaters, so we fed them less and more often so they could eat their favorite fruits more often," the person added.
A staff member said the elephant later showed off the watermelon it had won.
