Elephants are known for their intelligence and social sensitivity, but they don’t perform tricks in circuses, shows, and other venues because those tricks are fun for them. Instead, they typically undergo brutal “training” to teach them to perform the desired behaviors. For instance, the famous painting elephants learned that trick only after enduring “months of physical abuse to learn how to hold a paint brush, draw a straight line and paint flowers and leaves on trees.”
LINK: One Green Planet