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Vantara is a wildlife rescue in the Jamnagar district of Gujarat, India. They recently invited Plumes, a musician and wildlife advocate known for traveling the world with his signature pink guitar and singing popular songs for animals to highlight their emotional sensitivity, to perform for one of their resident hippos. Nobody expected the animal to respond the way it did.
Watch as Plumes quietly strums his guitar and begins singing "Imagine." The moment the hippo hears the music, he becomes curious and quickly makes his way over, completely captivated by the impromptu performance. The remarkable encounter has viewers wondering whether the hippo was genuinely enjoying the music or simply fascinated by a sound he'd never heard before.
Wow! We're not sure if hippos enjoy live music, but this one sure seemed to! He looked so relaxed and even a bit happy. As commenter @Sam pointed out, "One of the scariest animals on the planet and you have him looking like an angel." @YouTube added, "Hippo approved!"
Another commenter made us laugh when they said, "I'm casting a doubtful eye on the structural integrity of that fence."
Related: Safari Boat Spots ‘Moto Moto’ the Hippo in the Wild—and He’s Definitely Big and Chunky
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Can Wild Animals Respond to Music?
We agreed with the commenter who wrote, "I love it so much that music is such a draw for all of us." Another viewer, @frankknowsbest, made an interesting point, asking, "Why don’t zoos and sanctuaries play music for animals? This guy has repeatedly proven that they all love and respond to it."
While there's limited evidence that wild animals enjoy human music the same way we do, many are naturally curious about unfamiliar sounds, which could explain why the hippo was so captivated by Plumes' performance.
Singer-songwriter Hannah Trigwell highlighted research by an animal psychologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who found that animals may actually prefer what's known as "species-specific music." She explains that this refers to music "specially designed using pitches, tones and tempos that are familiar to a particular animal's species."
Whether the hippo was appreciating the melody or simply investigating something new, we'll probably never know. But one thing's for sure: he was one very attentive audience member for this solo performance.
