This is the moment a pianist serenades lions, monkeys and other zoo animals after he was brought in to have a calming effect on them.

He played them numerous well-known pieces, including a version of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’.

The footage was shared by Cali Zoo in the city of Santiago de Cali in the Colombian department of Valle del Cauca earlier this month.

The footage shows pianist Mario Fernando Prado playing soothing tunes for the animals, which include lions, ostriches, flamingos, monkeys, and many others.

The video goes on to show Prado serenading the animals as some birds seemingly flapping their wings to his music and a lion nearly nods off.

Cali Zoo said in a statement: “The serenade, made up of a dozen songs, was performed without music score, in an outstanding way to stimulate the animals through this type of sensory enrichment.

“Primates, lamas, mountain tapirs, birds, lions, zebras, [grey] crowned-cranes, ostriches and iguanas were some of the animals that enjoyed for the first time this type of initiative.”(sic)

Prado, who was in charge of making sure the music didn’t stop, said he enjoyed the unique experience, adding that he was very happy to perform 12 songs across six stages.

He said: “I think this is really interesting. I had never played in front of animals, well, I’ve played in front of animals but only two-legged animals.”

Head of Communications Susan Posada said the initiative was a great success because of the music’s calming effects on the animals with the added benefit that stimulating their hearing senses in controlled environments is also good for them.