Picture of the Day - 13 April 2009

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Hippo Musician, Delacorte Clock, Central Park Zoo, New York

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Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), photographed at the Central Park Zoo, NY.

Why on earth is it holding a violin?

The short answer is because he can.

The long one is that - He's one of the animal musicians on the Delacourt Clock at the Childrens Zoo in Central Park in New York.
From 8:00 am â 5:00 pm on the hour and half-hour, one of 26 nursery rhyme tunes plays while a bear with tambourine, a hippopotamus with violin, a goat with pan pipes, a kangaroo and offspring with horns, and a penguin with drum glide around the base of the clock. In addition, on the hour two monkeys on the top of the clock appear to strike a bell.