Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

Shanthi, the National Zoo’s Musical Elephant, Plays the Harmonica

Watch more with these video collections:

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…

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.

Watch more elephant videos.

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: Kinango’s Story

Rion Nakaya

The incredible, bendable, twistable, expandable elephant trunk

Rion Nakaya

The Elephant Shrew – Songs for Unusual Creatures

Rion Nakaya

The Dog Waltz

Rion Nakaya

The Astrid Waltz with Cachoutte, a singing dog

Rion Nakaya

The animals of Nairobi National Park

Rion Nakaya

Rescuing orphan baby elephant Olorien, a Sheldrick Wildlife Trust video

Rion Nakaya

Orphaned elephant Taabu is rescued by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust team

Rion Nakaya

Learning to be an elephant in Samburu

Rion Nakaya