Grieving elephant soothed by Mozart
Published: July 3, 2006
Suma, a 45-year-old elephant and long-time resident of the Zagreb Zoo, was bereaved and inconsolable after her pachyderm partner of 10 years died of cancer.
Until she heard Mozart.
“Suma became very depressed after her roomie Patna died in early May,” the head of Zagreb Zoo, Mladen Anic, said.
“She was refusing to eat, became uncommunicative and showed all the signs of a serious depression.”
Then, by sheer accident, Suma’s keepers discovered that the healing power of Mozart extends to the animal kingdom too.
Earlier this month, the zoo organised a concert of classical music just opposite Suma’s dwelling, Anic explained.
At the sight of five musicians preparing themselves to start a concert, Suma became very nervous and aggressive, peppering the intruders with little stones that she blew out of her trunk.
“But as soon as the concert started what we saw was really fascinating. Suma leaned against the fence, closed her eyes and listened without moving the entire concert,” he said.
The elephant especially adores Mozart, Anic said, but is also partial to the strains of Vivaldi and Bach
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