African elephants brought to zoos in Japan are often unable to raise their offspring because many lost their parents to poaching by ivory hunters.

But they are smart enough to learn from their keepers, said Osamu Shiina, who cares for the animals at a prefectural-run zoo on Shikoku.

Shiina, 51, is in charge of a family of four African elephants at Tobe Zoological Park in the town of Tobe, Ehime Prefecture.