Elephants Love Listening To The Didgeridoo
Elephants are very smart and emotional animals, who seem to have a similar affinity to listening to music as we humans do. The large mammals have been videoed reacting to all kinds of music played by humans including a grand piano.
In the video below, two Asian elephants from the ABQ Bio Park were treated to a live performance by Allan McKenzie. Alan played the didgeridoo for the elephants and recorded their reaction to the music. The elephants show their appreciation and start trumpeting and moving around to showcase their happiness, maybe an elephant’s form of dance?
Allan McKenzie is an internationally acclaimed artist and Aboriginal advisor of Boomalli Consulting based in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia. However, he is not the first person to play music to these beautiful beasts.
A man from the United Kingdom called Paul Barton has also discovered elephants’ love for music. Paul is a pianist from Yorkshire who traded the dales and concert halls for the jungles of Thailand, where he performs for blind and handicapped elephants. In the video below, Paul plays Debussy’s Clair de Lune for an 80-year-old blind elephant. It will touch your soul and leave you with tears in your eyes.
Paul regularly plays for the elephants. He hopes to bring calm and comfort to these beautiful creatures who have often led tough lives. He finds slow music can calm aggressive bull elephants, and gentle music can bring peace and comfort to blind elephants.
These brilliant animals are such gentle giants, with a love for classical music and other types of genre too. Animals certainly do have a connection with music in a similar way that we do, if you would like to see more about animals and music, have a look at this article about cows and their affinity for music.