Shanthi, the National Zoo's Musical Elephant, Plays the Harmonica!

When the elephant keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo hear the sound of a harmonica, it's not the radio they've left on. Instead, it's the Zoo's 36-year-old Asian elephant, Shanthi, who, unsolicited, has a propensity for coming up with her own ditties using whatever instruments the keepers have provided. These include harmonicas, horns and other noisemakers. The Zoo has captured some of Shanthi's most recent capriccios on this video.

The keepers provided the instruments after they noticed that Shanthi, more so than the Zoo's two other elephants, likes to make noise with objects. According to keepers, she will use her trunk to cover anything with a hole in it and blow until it makes a sound—and will often coax the objects to get different types of sounds from it. She taps objects with her trunk and flaps her ears against objects that make noise. Now they give the melodious pachyderm noisemakers as a form of enrichment.

Shanthi is the mother of the Zoo's 10-year-old calf, Kandula. Asian elephants are endangered in the wild, where 30,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants still live in the forests of south and southeast Asia. Visitors to the Zoo can watch an elephant demonstration, which sometimes includes Shanthi's musical skills, at 11 a.m. most days at the Zoo's Elephant Trails.

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  Pets & Animals

[hugwildlife]

Fantastic! It really is musical. Please tell Shanthi, that she has a fan in Australia and I think, that she is very talented! Thank you!

[leo811sf]

adorable and wonderful!

[CelticRaE19]

elephants might be the most artistic animal on the planet, besides people of course.

[ashyjedi]

She's so wonderful :3

Elephants are marvelous beings <3

[toughgurl86]

Cute

[sneakerbabeful]

This elephant should be retired to a sanctuary.

RETIRE HER TO TENNESSEE!

[nosorozec46]

whats wrong with the front left leg of that elephant on 2:50?

[eatsmaqqz]

I-V-I-V-I! We give her a Western instrument and she figures out just how to use it. Seeing how she's an Asian elephant, I'd love to hear her play some South or Southeast Asian hardware. Imagine the fun she'd have with gamelan instruments.

[deaditequeen]

They should set up one of those old fashioned "One Man Band" things for her with a horn, drum, harmonica and cymbal all attached together. Let her see what she can do with a nice mix

[Edie Koller]

Thats awesome..but its too bad they don't have enough space to roam around in like the san diego zo!

[tigerlillythekillkat]

cool plus awwww