Batyr was an Asian elephant who was able to produce a small amount of human speech. Living in a zoo in Kazakhstan in the Soviet Union, Batyr was reported as having a vocabulary of more than 20 phrases. A recording of Batyr saying "Batyr is good", his name and using words such as "drink" and "give" was played on Kazakh state radio and on the First Programme of the Central Television of the USSR — Vremya, in 1980.
He was the son of two once wild Indian elephants, Dubas and Palm, who had been presented to Kazakhstan's Almaty Zoo by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Born at the Almaty Zoo, Batyr lived his entire life in the Karaganda Zoo never having seen or heard another elephant. His name is a Turkish word meaning Dashing Equestrian, Man of Courage, or Athlete.
Batyr first 'spoke' on New Year's Day in 1977 when he was eight years old. Zoo employees were noticed his speech, but he soon delighted zoogoers by seeming to ask his attendants for water and regularly praising or chastising himself. By 1979, his fame as the "Speaking Elephant" had spread, though many stories were wild fabrications. Batyr's case was also included in several books on animal behavior, and in the proceedings of several scientific conferences.
A. N. Pogrebnoj-Aleksandroff who studied Batyr's abilities and wrote many publications about him, said of the elephant:
"Batyr, on the level of natural blares, [Batyr] said words (including human slang) by manipulating his trunk. By putting the trunk in his mouth, pressing a tip of the trunk to the bottom of the jaw and manipulating the tongue, [the elephant] said words. Besides, being in a corner of the cage (frequently at night) with the trunk softly hanging down, the elephant said words almost silently—a sound comparable with the sound of ultrasonic devices used against mosquitoes or the peep of mosquitoes, which human hearing hears well until approximately the age of 40. While pronouncing words, only the tip of the elephant's trunk is clamped inside [the mouth] and Batyr made subtle movements with a finger-shaped shoot on the trunk tip".
Others sounds produced by Batyr:
A human-like whistle
Human speech allegedly uttered at infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies
A gnashing sound imitative of rubber or polyfoam (foam plastic) on glass
The peep of rats or mice
The bark of dogs
The natural blares of elephants
The following words:
Batyr — said abruptly
I'm — very abruptly, in combination with his name, using long pronunciation so "I'm-Batyr", sounded almost together
Batyr — thoughtfully-tenderly
Batyr, Batyr, Batyr — joyfully running in a cage
Water — ask
Good — as in "good fellow"
Good Batyr
Oh-yo — sonorously
fool — seldom and abruptly
Bad — rarely
Bad Batyr — rarely
Ба́-ба- short form of babushka orgrandmother
Yes
Give (me)
Give, give, give
One, two, three — while dancing, turning and hopping
and a few obscene words
Batyr died in 1993 when zookeepers accidentally gave him an overdose of sedatives.
Kazakhstan even printed a postage stamp in his honor.
He was the son of two once wild Indian elephants, Dubas and Palm, who had been presented to Kazakhstan's Almaty Zoo by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Born at the Almaty Zoo, Batyr lived his entire life in the Karaganda Zoo never having seen or heard another elephant. His name is a Turkish word meaning Dashing Equestrian, Man of Courage, or Athlete.
Batyr first 'spoke' on New Year's Day in 1977 when he was eight years old. Zoo employees were noticed his speech, but he soon delighted zoogoers by seeming to ask his attendants for water and regularly praising or chastising himself. By 1979, his fame as the "Speaking Elephant" had spread, though many stories were wild fabrications. Batyr's case was also included in several books on animal behavior, and in the proceedings of several scientific conferences.
A. N. Pogrebnoj-Aleksandroff who studied Batyr's abilities and wrote many publications about him, said of the elephant:
"Batyr, on the level of natural blares, [Batyr] said words (including human slang) by manipulating his trunk. By putting the trunk in his mouth, pressing a tip of the trunk to the bottom of the jaw and manipulating the tongue, [the elephant] said words. Besides, being in a corner of the cage (frequently at night) with the trunk softly hanging down, the elephant said words almost silently—a sound comparable with the sound of ultrasonic devices used against mosquitoes or the peep of mosquitoes, which human hearing hears well until approximately the age of 40. While pronouncing words, only the tip of the elephant's trunk is clamped inside [the mouth] and Batyr made subtle movements with a finger-shaped shoot on the trunk tip".
Others sounds produced by Batyr:
A human-like whistle
Human speech allegedly uttered at infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies
A gnashing sound imitative of rubber or polyfoam (foam plastic) on glass
The peep of rats or mice
The bark of dogs
The natural blares of elephants
The following words:
Batyr — said abruptly
I'm — very abruptly, in combination with his name, using long pronunciation so "I'm-Batyr", sounded almost together
Batyr — thoughtfully-tenderly
Batyr, Batyr, Batyr — joyfully running in a cage
Water — ask
Good — as in "good fellow"
Good Batyr
Oh-yo — sonorously
fool — seldom and abruptly
Bad — rarely
Bad Batyr — rarely
Ба́-ба- short form of babushka orgrandmother
Yes
Give (me)
Give, give, give
One, two, three — while dancing, turning and hopping
and a few obscene words
Batyr died in 1993 when zookeepers accidentally gave him an overdose of sedatives.
Kazakhstan even printed a postage stamp in his honor.
Batyr was an Asian elephant who was able to produce a small amount of human speech. Living in a zoo in Kazakhstan in the Soviet Union, Batyr was reported as having a vocabulary of more than 20 phrases. A recording of Batyr saying "Batyr is good", his name and using words such as "drink" and "give" was played on Kazakh state radio and on the First Programme of the Central Television of the USSR — Vremya, in 1980.
He was the son of two once wild Indian elephants, Dubas and Palm, who had been presented to Kazakhstan's Almaty Zoo by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Born at the Almaty Zoo, Batyr lived his entire life in the Karaganda Zoo never having seen or heard another elephant. His name is a Turkish word meaning Dashing Equestrian, Man of Courage, or Athlete.
Batyr first 'spoke' on New Year's Day in 1977 when he was eight years old. Zoo employees were noticed his speech, but he soon delighted zoogoers by seeming to ask his attendants for water and regularly praising or chastising himself. By 1979, his fame as the "Speaking Elephant" had spread, though many stories were wild fabrications. Batyr's case was also included in several books on animal behavior, and in the proceedings of several scientific conferences.
A. N. Pogrebnoj-Aleksandroff who studied Batyr's abilities and wrote many publications about him, said of the elephant:
"Batyr, on the level of natural blares, [Batyr] said words (including human slang) by manipulating his trunk. By putting the trunk in his mouth, pressing a tip of the trunk to the bottom of the jaw and manipulating the tongue, [the elephant] said words. Besides, being in a corner of the cage (frequently at night) with the trunk softly hanging down, the elephant said words almost silently—a sound comparable with the sound of ultrasonic devices used against mosquitoes or the peep of mosquitoes, which human hearing hears well until approximately the age of 40. While pronouncing words, only the tip of the elephant's trunk is clamped inside [the mouth] and Batyr made subtle movements with a finger-shaped shoot on the trunk tip".
Others sounds produced by Batyr:
A human-like whistle
Human speech allegedly uttered at infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies
A gnashing sound imitative of rubber or polyfoam (foam plastic) on glass
The peep of rats or mice
The bark of dogs
The natural blares of elephants
The following words:
Batyr — said abruptly
I'm — very abruptly, in combination with his name, using long pronunciation so "I'm-Batyr", sounded almost together
Batyr — thoughtfully-tenderly
Batyr, Batyr, Batyr — joyfully running in a cage
Water — ask
Good — as in "good fellow"
Good Batyr
Oh-yo — sonorously
fool — seldom and abruptly
Bad — rarely
Bad Batyr — rarely
Ба́-ба- short form of babushka orgrandmother
Yes
Give (me)
Give, give, give
One, two, three — while dancing, turning and hopping
and a few obscene words
Batyr died in 1993 when zookeepers accidentally gave him an overdose of sedatives.
Kazakhstan even printed a postage stamp in his honor.
He was the son of two once wild Indian elephants, Dubas and Palm, who had been presented to Kazakhstan's Almaty Zoo by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Born at the Almaty Zoo, Batyr lived his entire life in the Karaganda Zoo never having seen or heard another elephant. His name is a Turkish word meaning Dashing Equestrian, Man of Courage, or Athlete.
Batyr first 'spoke' on New Year's Day in 1977 when he was eight years old. Zoo employees were noticed his speech, but he soon delighted zoogoers by seeming to ask his attendants for water and regularly praising or chastising himself. By 1979, his fame as the "Speaking Elephant" had spread, though many stories were wild fabrications. Batyr's case was also included in several books on animal behavior, and in the proceedings of several scientific conferences.
A. N. Pogrebnoj-Aleksandroff who studied Batyr's abilities and wrote many publications about him, said of the elephant:
"Batyr, on the level of natural blares, [Batyr] said words (including human slang) by manipulating his trunk. By putting the trunk in his mouth, pressing a tip of the trunk to the bottom of the jaw and manipulating the tongue, [the elephant] said words. Besides, being in a corner of the cage (frequently at night) with the trunk softly hanging down, the elephant said words almost silently—a sound comparable with the sound of ultrasonic devices used against mosquitoes or the peep of mosquitoes, which human hearing hears well until approximately the age of 40. While pronouncing words, only the tip of the elephant's trunk is clamped inside [the mouth] and Batyr made subtle movements with a finger-shaped shoot on the trunk tip".
Others sounds produced by Batyr:
A human-like whistle
Human speech allegedly uttered at infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies
A gnashing sound imitative of rubber or polyfoam (foam plastic) on glass
The peep of rats or mice
The bark of dogs
The natural blares of elephants
The following words:
Batyr — said abruptly
I'm — very abruptly, in combination with his name, using long pronunciation so "I'm-Batyr", sounded almost together
Batyr — thoughtfully-tenderly
Batyr, Batyr, Batyr — joyfully running in a cage
Water — ask
Good — as in "good fellow"
Good Batyr
Oh-yo — sonorously
fool — seldom and abruptly
Bad — rarely
Bad Batyr — rarely
Ба́-ба- short form of babushka orgrandmother
Yes
Give (me)
Give, give, give
One, two, three — while dancing, turning and hopping
and a few obscene words
Batyr died in 1993 when zookeepers accidentally gave him an overdose of sedatives.
Kazakhstan even printed a postage stamp in his honor.
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