Elephant Weighs Teak

An elephant and her mahut can weigh a teak log. The mahut shows the elephant a piece of chalk then points to a teak log; the elephant knows what to do. With its trunk and tusks the elephant lifts the log slowly and carefully to a balanced, level position, pauses, then puts the log down. The mahut marks the balance point of the log as his helper climbs onto one end. The elephant is shown the chalk again. It lifts and balances the log a second time with the helper standing on one end, grasping the elephant's ear for balance. The mahut uses this information to estimate the weight of the log.