A video of an elephant painting a self-portrait has become massively popular on YouTube. Though the elephant seems to paint with relative ease, it needs the brush to be placed on its trunk in order to begin. The elephant featured in the video currently resides in Lampang, Thailand, under the protection of The Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project. It was rescued from Burma, where it had allegedly been abused.
Elephants require very little instruction to paint, but do require guidance before they can recreate recognizable shapes or images. The most expensive elephant painting ever sold was done by Ruby, a female Asian elephant from the Phoenix, Arizona Zoo, and went for $25,000.
In Thailand, elephants are taught not only to paint but to complete other activities as well, including playing music.
