Highlights

• Elephants show elegant and elaborate water-hose tool use

• Elephants can use hoses in different ways depending on purpose

• Elephants show marked individual differences in showering behaviors

• Elephant Anchali disrupted water flow to showering elephant Mary by hose clamping

Mary adapts hose tool use to specific body parts

In contrast to the other elephants, Mary would not only spray herself with water using her trunk but also use a trunk-held water hose to shower. She picked it up within ∼5 s and showered on average for ∼7 min. When the water was turned off, she stopped using it and dropped it. Mary was never trained to perform these kinds of behaviors, and it is unknown when and how she acquired them.