Very cool, incredible. Has to be a hoax or something.
They probably just need to show the elephant once what to do and he can reproduce it. You know, that memory of an elephant thing? ;)
Next up is a donkey painting a bleak financial picture! :D ;D
Snopes confirms it--true.
Like Craig said, they are just very smart animals and good copyists. They don't create anything original, but are rather taught paintings by artists who are also their trainers, then they replicate these paintings in front of a crowd.
http://www.elephantart.com/catalog/splash.php
Yeah I spent a couple hours reading about this yesterday after seeing the video. It is still pretty damn amazing. The control of the brush and all. I guess the key point is that the elephant is not even aware that it is an elephant that he/she painted.
And they work for peanuts! ::) :D