When we think of animals that can imitate human speech, parrots immediately come to mind , right? These spectacularly and vividly colored birds have always been very popular for their ability to repeat words and phrases with incredible accuracy. However, the animal kingdom has many more surprises outside of these usual birds.
Wikie, the orca
Orcas are among the most keen marine mammals in our world, known for their complex social structures and polished passing on systems. But did you know that orcas can also mimic human speech? Onepeculiar orca, named Wikie, who lives at Marineland Antibes in France, was taught to mimic human speech, and over time was able to pronounce words and phrases such as “hello,” “bye,” and “Amy,” the name of her trainer. The boffin used a “do as I do” training method, where the animal was offered a model sound and then rewarded for forge it. whilst Wilkie did not understand the meaning behind the words, her aping was quite accurate. The results have been, without a doubt, surprising, and showed that orcas have the vocal flexibility to mimic human speech patterns and propound that they possess advanced learning and memory proficiency.
Ripper the Duck
The unique talent of this Australian musk duck is beyond doubt. It is the world’s first talking duck that learned to imitate its owner’s voice. Ripper was born in 1983 at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, after being incubated by a dwarf hen and then hand-reared. In this case, ducks are not usually known for their ability to imitate human speech, but this one in particular has defied expectations by imitating human speech, including a phrase that sounds surprisingly like “You bloody fool.” It is on record and studies have been done on it. Researchers recorded Ripper’s vocalizations and analyzed them, which confirmed that the duck’s imitations were not random, but deliberate attempts to imitate human speech, from its human. Understanding how and why Ripper developed this ability could shed light on the social and environmental factors that influence vocal imitation in birds. The sounds Ripper makes have been recorded and uploaded to the Australian Sound Archive .
NOC, the beluga whale
Beluga whales are known for their wide range of vocalizations, often called “canaries of the sea.” However, one beluga whale named NOC took vocal send-up to a new level by take as a pattern human speech. It was experts at the National Marine Mammal bottom in San Diego, where the beluga whale resided, who were surprised to discover that it produced sounds that remind one of human speech, including words and phrases. NOC’s voice sounded like run on, a sort of long-distance underwater imitation of human speech. Among the understandable phrases were “Who told me to get out?” Acoustic analysis of these sounds revealed that NOC’s vocalizations had frequency patterns similar to human speech, lowering their natural sound several octaves to mimic human speech, an incredible feat given the anatomical differences between whales and humans. Sadly, this cetacean died in 1999.
Koshik, the elephant
An elephant speaking Korean? An Asian pachyderm has a vocabulary of several Korean words that can mimic the human voice and therefore be understood by a human. While elephants are famous for their intelligence and complex social etiquette, this elephant has also sparked orderly interest for its complex ability that it achieves by placing the tip of its trunk inside its mouth, modifying its vocal tract to produce sounds similar to those of humans. Among the Korean words that Koshik, who lives at the Everland theme park in Yongin, South Korea, has learned are “annyeong” (hello), “choah” (good), “nuo” (lie down), “anja” (sit down) or “aniya” (no). Researchers believe that he may have acquired this ability to bond with his trainer and it could arise from an innate need to socialize with other elephants as well as with other species, such as humans.
“Koshik’s only social contact has been with his trainer, and we believe he parody words to indicate a bond of trust with him,” said Oh Suk-Hun, a veterinarian at Everland and co-author of the study, which was published in the journal Current Biology.
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