An elephant named "Shanmai," rolled the shoe up with its trunk, rubbed off the mud on it, and held up its trunk over the fence edge to return the shoe to the child who accidentally dropped a shoe on August 13, 2022. Screenshot of Sina.com

Do you know how smart an elephant is? Recently, a child accidentally dropped a shoe in the elephant living area of a wildlife park in Weihai, East China's Shandong Province. When the child and parents were worried, an elephant named "Shanmai," rolled the shoe up with its trunk, rubbed off the mud on it, and held up its trunk over the fence edge to return the shoe to the child. Tourists there cheered for the elephant's helpfulness and intelligence. 

According to the zoo manager, surnamed Cong, the elephant is 25 years old in its youth and is very smart and close to people, enjoying interacting with its breeder and tourists. The breeder usually takes care of it with a pedicure and uses food to guide its behavior for training. Tourists can also interact with the elephant by feeding it with grass. 

Interestingly, two weeks ago, a slipper dropped by a tourist was thrown back to the owner by a gorilla in the same zoo. Netizens joked that animals there are well trained, and all of them are "warm-hearted." Others also called for animal protection to cherish these fascinating creatures.