Elephant Music: Tiny Pachyderm Concert

NPR | By Barbara J. King

Published May 6, 2012 at 9:30 AM CDT

Shanthi is a 36-year-old Asian elephant who resides at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park (NZP). A few days ago, NZP released this video of Shanthi playing harmonica and horns, offered to her when caretakers noted the elephant's tendency to use her body in musically rhythmic ways.

The clip is brief (3:38). If you're short on time, don't miss the song Shanthi created that starts at right about 1:50. Its structure, and its ending crescendo, is pretty cool.

The NZP notes that Shanthi is never cued or coerced in her playing: it's "for her own pleasure and joy."

I wish all elephants could live safely in the wild or in sanctuaries. When they don't, this type of creative enrichment is fabulous for them.

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Barbara J. King

Barbara J. King is a contributor to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture. She is a Chancellor Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary. With a long-standing research interest in primate behavior and human evolution, King has studied baboon foraging in Kenya and gorilla and bonobo communication at captive facilities in the United States.

See stories by Barbara J. King

Elephant Music: Tiny Pachyderm Concert

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