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Tech

These Keyboard-Playing Free Jazz Otters Are Going Places

The Smithsonian's National Zoo stumbles on true talent.

These dudes live at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, where part of the regular program for captive animals is sensory enrichment. The basic idea, according to the Smithsonian, is "to allow animals to demonstrate their species-typical behavior, to allow them exercise control or choice over their environment and to enhance their well-being. While they wouldn't encounter a keyboard in the wild, the activity engages their sight, touch and hearing senses." Other examples of enrichment include piping in sounds and-or smells that an animal might hear in the wild, food puzzles, and the introduction of "novel objects" to the animals' environments, such as musical instruments or more conventional items like chew toys.

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Pair this up with a Keyboard Cat outro and I think the entire internet might just melt.