Birds in France trained to pick up cigarette butts in exchange for food

Crows in France put humans to shame when a historic theme park trained them to clear up cigarette butts and small bits of rubbish.

The experiment at the Puy du Fou theme park in Les Epesses was carried out in 2018 with six "particularly intelligent" birds trained to collect the litter and drop it into a container for a food reward.

The park's head founder Christophe Gaborit first trained two rooks using a box with two compartments, one with a piece of rubbish and the other revealing a reward. The crows soon learned to associate rubbish with food rewards.

While the intention is not to use them as cleaners, the park hopes the crows encourage humans not to litter.

A clip shared by National Geographic shows the crows at work, scouring the ground for bits of rubbish before returning to a wooden box. The majority of the box was cigarette butts.

National Geographic

It didn't take long for hundreds of commentators to take to the clip, with one writing: "I wish they could bring the trash to the people that threw it on the ground."

"Now if only we could train people to pick up their trash," another added, while a third said: "I love crows they are SO intelligent!! People are so lazy, the majority of the trash was cigarette butts."

Meanwhile, one viewer humoured: "Instead, teach the crows to swarm and attack people who litter."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Nicolas de Villiers, a spokesperson for the park told reporters that "nature itself can teach us to take care of the environment".

He added that the crows "like to communicate with humans and establish a relationship through play."

Indy100 reached out to Puy du Fou for comment

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