Eleph-art and Eleph-occer

The whistle blew and the penalty shooter squared himself up to take aim. In deep concentration, he rushed at the ball and booted it with his left back leg, but the goalie was fast, and blocked it expertly with his trunk. While goalie danced a triumphant jig of victory, the sharp-witted shooter seized the opportunity for a second shot, and scored the winning goal. The crowd went wild.

It was a game of sudden death with a difference - each player had five legs (if you included their noses), the ball was two times larger than life, and the reward was no silver cup. Playing for sugar-cane, the elephants seemed to be having a ball, getting their exercise and doing their job all at once, which when I think about it, is the typical Thai way.

Super Sharp Shooter

Football is just one way of keeping the elephants entertained at the Mae Sa Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. They are also famous for their artistic skills, and today was no ordinary day for the six star eleph-artists who not only broke the Guiness World Record for the largest ever painting created by a group of elephants, but also for the most expensive ever auctioned by them. A rich American bought the piece for 1.5million baht (that's 20,000 quid), and they were celebrating with their mahouts, trumpeting excitedly whilst posing for a photo-shoot and television filming session with one of 'Bangkok TV' channel's presenters.

We are the Champions

You don't believe me, do you? Why would anyone pay the equivalent of an Audi TT sports car for a 'painting' by an elephant? The answer is, Talent. Elephants spend 2-5 years learning to paint, and get to practise their skills every day, with the assistance of their human friends who pass them the watercolours and clean their brushes. I was amazed to see the look of concentration on several of their hairy grey brows, as they deliberated over their delicate dabs and strokes. The results are strangely appealing and a range of watercolour flowers and trees, (while some elephants prefer a more abstract approach) are auctioned daily for between 200 and 5,000 baht (3 - 70GBP).

"Move over Monet"

Are you a cynic who sees this as elephant exploitation? I agree that it carries a certain whiff of cheese and that elephants were not born to paint and kick a ball, but to pull down trees and munch them freely. However, their natural habitat is shrinking across the world and several species are already extinct. Many of the world's remaining working elephants are becoming redundant as traditional logging declines. Unemployed elephants and their mahouts are migrating to cities to earn a living, where accidents will happen, for example we heard recently about one who died after falling down a manhole that could not withstand his weight. We have personally seen a few (in India, mainly) who look as though they need a bit of TLC, but here at Mae Sa there's no shortage of that. Their babies are reared in peaceful gardens, every elephant has his own personal mahout, and they are bathed, fed, and tended like the delicate flowers they love to paint. They even get to retire at a sensible age where they get to hang out with their families and friends and munch to their hearts content.

"Eleph-art"

I'm fairly convinced, but I'm going to look into it more because elephants are, as I have said before, my all time favourite beasts. The only problem is, if anyone mentions the E word, and especially if I get a glimpse of one of the lovable grey lumps, it brings tears to my eyes and I can't see a thing. So it's lucky Scott got these pictures to prove it all happened.

"Baby Love"