This is the incredible moment a blind elephant danced and swayed along to music after a kindhearted man played the piano for her in the wild.
In the clip, filmed at Elephants World in Thailand, Paul Barton explains that the elephant Lam Duan has been blind for many years
He then plays a classical Bach number while the 62-year-old elephant sways her head and trunk to the music, almost in a trance-like state
Lam Duan, which means ‘Tree With Yellow Flowers’, currently lives in Elephants World in Thailand, an animal rescue facility looking after sick, old, or disabled elephants.
Mr Barton, 57, said: ‘I was heartbroken when I first saw Lam Duan arrive at Elephants World in 2012.
‘She’s so restless. When you play music to her, she stops being restless and is calm. Being blind, she’ll sway back and forth.’
Lam Duan spent the first 20 years of her life working in the logging trade, before spending a further 10 in the trekking industry.
The next 30 years were spent being looked after by a pair of owners before being moved to Elephants World.
Lam Duan spent the first 20 years of her life working in the logging trade, before spending a further 10 in the trekking industry
Now she lives at the rescue centre, where Mr Barton plays music to the animals in the hopes that their lives are a little more fulfilled through these activities
Mr Barton, originally from East Yorkshire, lives at the shelter with his wife, Khwan, and regularly plays music to the 28 elephants under their care.
Mr Barton said: ‘These elephants are standing close to you, and there’s kind of a connection that you can’t explain in words’