Thailand hosts world's largest elephant buffet
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Hundreds of elephants tucked into a giant buffet of tropical fruits and vegetables in northern Thailand Friday in a bid to set a new record.
A total of 269 elephants were gathered to feast on 67 tonnes of pineapples, watermelons, bananas, sugarcane, corn, cucumbers and jicamas, according to local authorities in Surin, 430 kilometres north-east of Bangkok.
Several hundreds observers took photographs and videos, with some feeding the elephants with fruit and vegetables they brought themselves.
The annual event took the Guinness World Record in 2003 for the largest elephant buffet, with 269 elephants facing 50 tonnes of food.
Friday's event topped that record in terms of the tonnage of food laid out. But with Guinness no longer accepting records relating to animals eating food, the event was to be certified by the Asia Book of Records and Thailand Book of Records.
The annual Surin Elephant Roundup also features an elephant parade and several performances, including a historical battle re-enactment and an elephant football match.
It was the 55th event hosted by Surin, capital of the province of the same name, which is home to about a quarter of the country's domesticated elephant population.
The elephant is the national animal of Thailand. According to the National Elephant Institute, the country has an estimated 4,000 domesticated elephants and a population of around 3,000 wild individuals.
