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Raven at Toronto Zoo shows off intelligence as it plays with children’s toy

Ravens are remarkably intelligent creatures, as this Toronto Zoo bird proves.

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Raven

If you never expected a bird to be as clever as a human child, this video of a raven playing with a toy will blow your mind.

Toronto Zoo in Canada filmed Bran, one of its resident ravens, using a children’s shape-matching toy with great skill, in return for treats.

Posting the video to Facebook, the zoo said: “Bran lives in our Kids Zoo and keepers provide him with a variety of enrichment including a shape-matching toy, which he has clearly mastered.”

The clip of the raven matching the plastic shapes in the toy was viewed more than 13,000 times.

The zoo said: “This behaviour mimics their natural tendency to hide or ‘cache’ extra food and novel objects that they find in the wild. Ravens are very smart animals and are one of the few species that can learn to use tools.”

Despite their small size, ravens are remarkably intelligent. Studies have found that the species can use tools, pre-plan tasks, and even hold grudges against cheats.

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