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Scientists recently discovered a new elephant behavior that is simply bananas. An Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at the Berlin Zoo can use her trunk to peel bananas before eating them, a new study reveals. 

She wasn’t trained to do this; instead, researchers believe she picked up the skill by watching zookeepers peel bananas for her. 

An incredible video shows the elephant, named Pang Pha, first grasp the banana with the end of her trunk. Then, she twists her trunk around on itself, breaks the banana by ripping off the stem end, and throws the rest on the ground. She then picks up the banana again, this time by pinching the frayed peel with her trunk, and uses the banana’s weight to methodically peel the fruit. This might not be exactly the way keepers peel bananas, but it’s a remarkable feat for a thumbless animal. 

Related: Do elephants really “never forget”?

Study first author Lena Kaufmann (opens in new tab) , a doctoral student at Humboldt University of Berlin, began working with the elephant to study how the animals sense touch sensations with their trunks. Soon after, the zookeepers began to mention other intriguing behaviors they had spotted, like banana peeling. Kaufman didn’t believe it at first. To see for herself, Kaufmann began to feed Pang Pha bananas to see what would happen.

“I started bringing bananas for her,” Kaufmann told Live Science. “And I didn’t see anything. She just took the banana and ate it. So I started doubting it.” 

But Kaufmann was bringing green bananas, fresh from the supermarket, and Pang Pha would simply swallow them whole. When Kaufmann offered Pang Pha a more ripe banana, one with little brown spots on the peel, the elephant grasped the banana and carefully opened it to get at the pulp inside. 

It turned out that Pang Pha has preferences. She will eat green bananas whole when offered them, but will take time to peel sweeter, more ripe bananas. She does not, however, like extremely ripe bananas. 

“At first, I gave her a [brown banana] and she basically dropped it and left it on the floor,” said Kaufmann. “After that, I gave her a second one, and immediately she threw it at me.”

Through repeated experimentation, Kaufmann learned that Pang Pha will occasionally peel and eat an overripe banana, but she clearly doesn’t seem to enjoy them. RELATED STORIES—Asian elephant mom carries dead calf for weeks, new eye-opening video reveals

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Kaufmann next studied how and when she peels bananas in social situations, where she is being fed bananas as a part of a group. In these cases the vast majority of Pang Pha’s bananas were eaten without being peeled. That is, until she was on her last banana, which she would take her time to peel 60% of the time. 

Kaufmann believes that Pang Pha’s reluctance to peel bananas during group feeding is a sign that she optimized the behavior for her benefit. When alone, Pang Pha is more likely to carefully peel each banana, but when eating communally, she has to eat very quickly, or the other elephants might leave her with no bananas. In that case, she swallows them whole, but chooses to savor the last banana.

Pang Pha’s remarkable feat was described April 10 in the journal Current Biology (opens in new tab) .

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Who will be the UK’s next ambassador to the United States?

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December 17, 2025

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Who will be the UK's next ambassador to the United States?

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈

It might be the last full day of business before parliament wraps up for Christmas but there is plenty on the menu for Sam and Anne to tackle.

The duo look at:

  • The man to beat in the race to become the next UK ambassador to the United States

  • Britain looking set to rejoin the Erasmus student exchange programme but how much will it cost the taxpayer?

  • Gossip and fallout from the Angela Rayner polling about how she’s perceived with Labour voters

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UK

Teenage boy charged over murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe in Weston-super-Mare

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December 17, 2025

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Teenage boy charged over murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe in Weston-super-Mare

A nine-year-old girl found dead in Weston-super-Mare has been named on the day police revealed a teenager had been charged with her murder.

Emergency services were called to Lime Close in the Somerset town at 6.09pm on Monday but Aria Thorpe was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said a 15-year-old boy had been charged with her murder and that a preliminary post-mortem found she died from a single stab wound.

The teenage boy – who can’t be named due to his age – will appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court later today.

A police cordon remains in place as forensics officers continue their work.

Flowers and tributes have been left at the scene. Pic: PA
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Flowers and tributes have been left at the scene. Pic: PA

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Superintendent Jen Appleford, from Avon and Somerset Police, said the community was in shock and Aria’s family were being supported by police.

“It is impossible to adequately describe how traumatic the past 36 hours have been for them and we’d like to reiterate in the strongest possible terms their request for privacy,” she said.

Supt Appleford said police were working with local schools and other agencies to make sure support is available.

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UK

Duke of Marlborough charged with strangulation offences

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December 17, 2025

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Duke of Marlborough charged with strangulation offences

The Duke of Marlborough, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, has been charged with intentional strangulation.

Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is accused of three offences between November 2022 and May 2024, Thames Valley Police said.

The 70-year-old has been summonsed to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, following his arrest in May last year.

The three charges of non-fatal intentional strangulation are alleged to have taken place in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, against the same person.

Spencer-Churchill, known to his family as Jamie, is the 12th Duke of Marlborough and a member of one of Britain’s most aristocratic families.

He is well known to have battled with drug addiction in the past.

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Spencer-Churchill inherited his dukedom in 2014, following the death of his father, the 11th Duke of Marlborough.

Prior to this, the twice-married Spencer-Churchill was the Marquess of Blandford, and also known as Jamie Blandford.

His ancestral family home is Sir Winston’s birthplace, the 300-year-old Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.

But the duke does not own the 18th century baroque palace – and has no role in the running of the residence and vast estate.

The palace is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a popular visitor attraction with parklands designed by “Capability” Brown.

In 1994, the late duke brought legal action to ensure his son and heir would not be able to take control of the family seat.

Blenheim is owned and managed by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.

A spokesperson for the foundation said: “Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation is aware legal proceedings have been brought against the Duke of Marlborough.

“The foundation is unable to comment on the charges, which relate to the duke’s personal conduct and private life, and which are subject to live, criminal proceedings.

“The foundation is not owned or managed by the Duke of Marlborough, but by independent entities run by boards of trustees.”

The King hosted a reception at Blenheim Palace for European leaders in July last year, and the Queen, then the Duchess of Cornwall, joined Spencer-Churchill for the reveal of a bust of Sir Winston in the Blenheim grounds in 2015.

The palace was also the scene of the theft of a £4.75m golden toilet in 2019 after thieves smashed their way into the palace during a heist.

The duke’s representatives have been approached for comment.

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