We trained crows to pick up garbage, but can we teach ourselves?

At a historical theme park in Les Epesses, France, animal trainers taught crows to pick up garbage in the hopes that human onlookers would catch on. As you enter Puy du Fou , a historical theme park in Les Epesses, France, you might come across a curious new attraction: crows collecting trash in exchange for treats. No, the birds aren’t the park’s newest cleanup crew. In fact, the performance is merely a training exercise. But Puy du Fou president Nicolas de Villiers says there’s an alternative motive to the workout as well—to send a message to park visitors: Don’t litter . “We want to show humans that they should pick up waste by themselves,” he says. “People have been a bit shocked seeing the crow doing this game. We’re not educating the crows, we’re educating human beings.” The whole thing actually started by accident. Puy du Fou hosts a number of live bird shows featuring falcons, owls, vultures, and crows. In one show, a crow is supposed to pick up a rose and offer it to a princess. But during a particular performance, instead of picking up a rose, the crow grabbed a piece of trash and brought it […]

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