Orangutan in North Dakota zoo pulls on heart strings when he plays recorder

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Orangutan in North Dakota zoo plays recorder for visitors
Visitors from all over the world have been coming to the Chahinkapa Zoo to see its orangutan named Tal perform on his recorder.

Normally people flock to the zoo to see all the different animals, but this zoo in North Dakota has even more of an attraction.

Visitors from all over the world have been coming to the Chahinkapa Zoo to see its orangutan named Tal perform on his recorder.

Tal got some special visitors this week from a New York reed ensemble and it didn't take long for Tal to join in.

"It touches an emotional chord that is really there. We never give animals credit for having feelings but I'm pretty sure that they do," said Jeffrey Hale, New York Kammermusiker member.

The reed ensemble enjoys playing with Tal so much they have visited him every year for the past four years and have made him an honorary member of the group.

Tal has been at this zoo for the past 10 years and zookeepers say he has always loved classical music.