YONGIN, South Korea: An elephant at a zoo in South Korea has learned to imitate human speech and has a vocabulary of several words, researchers said Friday.
Koshik, a 22-year-old male Asian elephant at Everland zoo in Yongin, a city south of Seoul, greeted visiting journalists by “saying” choah (good) and nuo (lie down).
He can also make the sounds annyong (hi), anja (sit down) and aniya (no), according to a team of scientists from South Korea and Europe who studied his vocalizations.
Elephants cannot use their lips to make sounds like humans do, as their upper lips are fused with their noses to form their trunks.
But Koshik formulates the words by rolling up his trunk and putting it into his mouth. He then either places the tip of his trunk on his tongue or on the ceiling of his mouth to create different sounds.
The researchers said they were not completely sure how the elephant picked up the the skill, but they believe Koshik learned the words from his trainer of 19 years, Kim Jong-Gap.
“The only social bonds Koshik had made was with his trainer and we think he learned and imitated the words to form ties and trust with Kim,” Oh Suk-Hun, a veterinarian at Everland and co-author of the research, told reporters.
Although the elephant can clearly hear and imitate the words, whether he understands them is still being studied, he said.
Everland conducted its research along with scientists from the University of Vienna in Austria and Germany’s University of Jena.
Koshik was born in 1990 in a state-run zoo in Seoul and transferred 49 kilometers south to Everland, part of South Korea’s largest theme park, three years later.
“Koshik is like my baby because I’ve trained him since he came here,” trainer Kim told AFP.
“I slept in a sleeping bag near Koshik for a month when I first started training him and I think that’s why we became so close to the point where he started imitating my voice,” he said.
“I’ve never thought an animal, especially an elephant, could mimic human sounds, so I was surprised and thrilled to see Koshik ‘speak,’” he added.
Elephants are highly social mammals which in the wild live in groups and use low-frequency vocalizations to keep in contact over great distances.
Korean elephant learns to imitate human speech
Korean elephant learns to imitate human speech
Saudi Arabia’s FMF concludes with over $26.6bn in agreements
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said it secured more than SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) in agreements and memorandums of understanding at the fifth edition of the Future Minerals Forum, underscoring the Kingdom’s push to position mining as a key pillar of its economic diversification strategy.
The forum, held in Riyadh under the patronage of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, drew representatives from around 100 countries and attracted about 21,500 participants, according to the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.
The government has identified mining as a priority sector as it seeks to reduce reliance on oil and strengthen global supply chains for critical minerals.
The agreements signed during the forum span the full mining value chain, including exploration, extraction, and mineral processing, as well as manufacturing, research and development, innovation, and sustainability.
The ministry said the breadth of the deals highlights efforts to accelerate sector development while attracting long-term domestic and foreign investment.
Participants included ministers, senior government officials, executives from major global mining companies, and investors, as well as academics and technical experts. More than 450 speakers took part in ministerial roundtables, panel discussions and technical sessions.
An international exhibition formed a key part of the event, featuring 274 exhibitors from 13 countries, including Australia, the US, and the UK, as well as France, Germany, and several emerging mining markets.
The exhibition was organized across four main zones covering exploration and mining, processing and manufacturing, advanced technologies and innovation, and investment and partnerships.
Forum discussions focused on strengthening cross-border cooperation across mineral supply chains, accelerating exploration activity, and improving access to financing, as well as promoting sustainable and responsible mining practices.
Sessions also examined the growing role of digital tools, automation and artificial intelligence in enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making in the sector.
The ministry said the scale of agreements announced at the forum provides a foundation for sustained growth and supports the Kingdom’s long-term objective of becoming a global hub for mining and mineral processing, at a time of rising international demand for critical and strategic minerals.
The ministry also highlighted the rapid evolution of the Future Minerals Forum over its five editions, describing it as a platform that has transitioned from a regional gathering into a global convening point for policymakers and industry leaders.
