Kosik, Talking Elephant, Attracts Researchers And Tourists In South Korea (VIDEO)
In this video from CBS, an elephant named Kosik is attracting visitors and scientists alike with his unique ability to vocalize various Korean words.
Kim-Jong Kap, Kosik's trainer at Everland Theme Park in South Korea, says that Kosik's pronunciation has improved greatly since he first discovered the pachyderm could speak in 2006. Kosik is now able to pronounce 7 words in Korean, like "hi" and "good."
Dr. Daniel Mietchen, a biological scientist from the University of Jena in Germany, has come to South Korea with other researchers from the university to study the exceptional elephant. They believe Kosik may reveal that elephants are capable of learning language, though they doubt that he actually grasps the meaning of the words he speaks.
Mietchen says Kosik is the only living elephant capable of this feat that they know of, though other elephants have exhibited the ability to mimic the sounds of trucks and other elephants.
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First Posted: 10/11/10 03:50 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:00 PM ET