It is claimed that elephants never forget. And we hope that's true especially for these elephants at the Thailand sanctuary, Elephant World, home to older elephants.
Paul Barton, a classical pianist, has been sharing his talents with a rather large audience these days. And when we say "large," we mean it literally. Barton has been spending most of his time playing his beautiful music for the gentle giants of the elephant sanctuary.
He first heard about the elephants when his wife discovered the sanctuary online. Barton explains in a video, "We liked the sound of the place being a retirement center for old, injured and handicapped former logging and trekking elephants. So we paid them a visit. I wondered if these old rescue elephants might like to listen to some slow classical music."
Barton reached out to the staff at Elephant World to see if he can bring his piano and serenade the elephants. The staff said yes.
The first time Barton began to play for the elephants, one blind elephant, was in the midst of eating breakfast and stopped the second he heard the music. Barton had played Beethoven.
Barton continues to explain in a video, "[He] was often in pain, and I like to think maybe the soothing the music gave him some comfort in the darkness," Barton tells CBS News that this elephant was the first to take to his music. The musician said this was the first elephant to really take to his music. The gentle giant later died of an infection, sadly. Barton was heartbroken to hear the news.
Barton continues to play for these old gentle giant, hoping the music soothes their soul. Even if the an elephant is blind, they don't need to see to hear and feel the music Barton is playing just for them.
