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If you have a pet, then chances are you've
talked to them more than once, probably like they were actually a
person. But of course animals can't talk back – or can they? Here's a
list of ten beasties, from huge elephants to small breed dogs, who might
have something to say about that.
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Koshik, the Elephant
Koshik is an Asian elephant with a special talent; He can talk. Well, a
little, because Koshik has a small but impressive vocabulary of Korean.
Knowing only five words, "annyong" ("hello"), "anja" ("sit down"), "aniya"
("no"), "nuo" ("lie down") and "choah" ("good"), Koshik doesn't seem to
understand what he's saying, but the ability to mimic the words at all
is absolutely unprecedented. Koshik lives outside of Yongin in South
Korea in the Everland Zoo. His trainers claim that he learned to imitate
human words in 2004, and they attribute it to close contact with humans
throughout his lifetime. |
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NOC, the Beluga Whale
In 1984, around the age of 9, NOC said his first words. For a human,
this might have been worrisome, since that's a little old to finally
start talking, but NOC was a beluga whale. Captured as a juvenile in
1977, NOC learned to mimic the speech of his human handlers and
companions fairly early in life. Although the mimicry suddenly stopped
when he reached sexual maturity four years later, the fact that it
happened at all is undeniably amazing. |
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Alex, the Gray Parrot
Bought when he was one year old, Alex was an African Gray Parrot and the
subject of a major scientific study spanning over thirty years. His
owner, Irene Pepperberg, was an animal psychologist at the University of
Arizona (and eventually elsewhere), who was studying language in
relation to animals. In fact, Alex's name itself was an acronym for
Pepperberg's “Animal Learning Experiment.” By the time of his death in
2007, Alex could recognize more than fifty objects, had a vocabulary of
over 100 words, and was touted as having the intelligence of a
four-year-old human. Before his death, his last words to Pepperberg were
“You be good.” |
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Hoover, the Seal
Found by George and Alice Swallow in 1971, Hoover the seal was just a
baby when he was taken in by his human parents. After earning his name
by eating at the pace of a vacuum cleaner and outgrowing his tub, Hoover
began to live in the pond outside his adoptive parents' home. Here, he
learned how to speak and imitate voices, including a thick New England
Accent. Eventually, he was moved to the New England Aquarium, where he
entertained onlookers, crying, “Well hello there!” and “Get outta here!”
until his death in 1985. |
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Odie, the Pug
Not to be confused with Garfield the cat's brain-dead roommate, this
canine named Odie was anything but stupid. Although his vocabulary only
included three words, that was more than enough to capture the hearts
and attention of the United States. He was featured on Late Night with
David Letterman and The Oprah Winfrey Show, cheerfully bellowing out “I
love you!” to his owner, Ruth.
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N'kisi, the African Grey Parrot
An African Grey Parrot similar to Alex, N'kisi has a much more extensive
vocabulary and understanding of the world around him. With a growing
vocabulary of 950 words and the ability to use them in context,
frequently in complete sentences, N'kisi is a stunning example of how
little we really know about animals. N'kisi has been reported to have an
understanding of verb forms, saying, “flied” when he hasn't been taught
the past-tense of “fly,” and even inventing new terms to describe things
that he hadn't been taught. In a story told by Jane Goodall, after
seeing a photo of the acclaimed primatologist, N'kisi had the
opportunity to meet her in person, whereupon he looked at her and asked,
"Got a chimp?"
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Blackie, the Cat
Although there was no scientific study involving Blackie, much less a
thriving Internet fan community, he is nonetheless one of the most
important talking animals in the world. Trained to say, “I love you” and
“I want my mama,” Blackie made paid appearances on local TV and radio
programs throughout the late 1970s. However, when the show eventually
wound up on the street corner, like a guitarist looking to make it big
in Nashville, the owners were notified that they would need to get a
business license in order to keep up Blackie's street show. The
resulting court case was both ridiculous and hilarious, touching on the
issue of a cat's right to the freedom of speech—really—versus a person's
right to profit from it.
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Einstein, the African Gray Parrot
A permanent resident of the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, Einstein is
eighteen years old and has a vocabulary of about 200 words, about 70 on
cue, and a definite personality. When asked what she would do if given a
peanut, her response is to bob her head and chirrup, “Oh my god! Oh my
god!” over and over in excitement. An African Grey Parrot similar to
Alex and N'Kisi, Einstein is the third in the set that proves this may
be the most intelligent bird species on record.
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