[Nono]

I sent this link to a friend who is very knowledgeable about wildlife (and 'tamelife'). Every year he spends his holidays taking part in zoological surveys on behalf of the organization Earthwatch.
This is what he replied:

"I think the elephant painting is false. Not that I have anything against
elephants at all; it's just that these pictures are based in our culture.
There are many ways to portray 3-dimensional reality in a 2-dimensional
medium, and there is no reason to expect Asian elephants to do it the way we do, unless they were taught to. Even then, there is no reason to expect a self-portrait from an animal who has not been proven to recognize itself in a mirror.

I would guess that this elephant was taught how to do brush strokes one at a time, and that the "aritst" has no knowledge of the final result. Asian
elephants do all sorts of things for us.

That said, I just want to point out that I have the utmost respect and
admiration for elephants. Lynn and I have interacted with these amazing
creatures in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and we have always nodded our heads in gratitude for their forbearance and grace. I will not bore you with our many stories, but African elephants have always shown themselves to use their primary stature with tolerance and, dare I say it, humor.

In 1993, our Botswanan guide asked what animal we wanted to see once again on our last day in the bush, and we both said elephant. Pilotwe smiled, and we spent the afternoon watching a small herd silently foraging a thicket, with the younger females guiding the ancient blind matriarch's trunk toward the best leaves. I have never seen a better example of communal living, and I have never seen humans do a better job than elephants at living our lives.

Well, they don't paint, I guess."