Being able to utilize objects in your environment is one of the key things separating intelligent and nonintelligent animals. Very few animals have been observed to use tools; crows, elephants, otters and primates are a few. A British university researcher accidentally saw this bear scratching itself with a barnacle-encrusted rock, and it's the first time a bear has ever been seen using an object as a tool.Bears are pretty awesome animals. They're very clever -- if you've interacted with one in the wild you would know that they're very curious and can break into practically anything. People joke that the only thing stopping bears from being able to pick a lock is their lack of thumbs. Not only are they intelligent, but they're also apex predators. Bears are cool!
It's interesting to see how little we actually know about the behavior of animals and other creatures. The first few episodes of Planet Earth and Life blew my mind because I had no clue that wild animals could learn and exhibit such advanced behaviors. We still have a lot to learn about animal nature.
http://news.discovery.com/animals/brown-bear-rock-scratching-120305.html
Brown Bear Tool Kit: A Rock for Scratching : Discovery News. (2012, March 5). Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, History, Adventure, Human, Autos. Retrieved March 8, 2012, from http://news.discovery.com/animals/brown-bear-rock-scratching-120305.html
That is pretty awesome! This shows that bears are pretty smart.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to think about the potential that animals may pocess but at the same time, the picture is somewhat humorous. It looks like the bear is just taking a bath. The photography is a creep.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty cool that bears are using the resources around them that are usefull and bears are getting smarter I wonder what is going to happen next.
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