Koshik the elephant's talent was confirmed on Friday by an international team of scientists who said the five-and-a-half ton animal may have started imitating human speech because he was lonely.

The 22-year-old asian elephant can reproduce five Korean words by tucking his trunk inside his mouth to make human sounds.

Koshik can reproduce the Korean words "hello," "sit down," "no," "lie down," and "good."

In 1983, zoo officials in Kazakhstan claimed their elephants could speak Russian, but there was no scientific proof.

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