Elephants dressed as Santa Claus have given out presents and sweets to students in Thailand in an annual Christmas tradition in the mostly Buddhist country.
The Christmas celebration at the Jirasartwitthaya school in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, has run for 15 years.
This year four elephants and their mahouts, also wearing Santa hats, visited the school and gave away presents to the students, said Lardthongtare Meepan, owner of the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace, an elephant camp.
"The highlight is not only handing out presents but also students and elephants are forming a Christmas tree together," he said.
Thai elephants dressed as Santa Claus perform with students during Christmas celebrations. Source: EPA
The elephants danced and showed off tricks to students.
"I'm very happy to see them and they are very cute. I love elephants because it dances very cute," said Patcharamon Sukpiromsunti, a primary school student.
The elephant is Thailand's national animal and appears throughout history and literature.
An elephant during the performance. Source: Getty
"It makes me feel like I have a lot of friends. The elephants handing out candies, toys, dolls and so many other things," student Pasitha Sithapak said.
Thailand is 98 per cent Buddhist but celebrates Christmas as part of the year-end holiday season.
Animal rights concerns
However, a number of animal rights groups have expressed concern about the use of trained elephants in Thailand.
Material from World Animal Protection says "elephants are wild animals that belong in the wild".
"If a venue allows you to get close enough to ride, bath or touch an elephant, it's because they've been cruelly trained."
Elephants are wild animals that belong in the wild World Animal Protection
A committee of several animal welfare associations submitted recommendations to the Thai government last year advocating stricter controls for elephants in captivity.
But activist Sovaida Salwala from Friends of the Asian Elephants, an NGO who helped compile the report, told AFP their requests "remain unanswered so far".
In fact, there is some evidence the animals' situation is getting worse.
One of the elephants in Ayutthaya on Monday. Source: Getty
Jan Schmidt-Burbach of World Animal Protection told AFP their last research in 2015 found some 1,771 elephants whose welfare was in question in Thailand.
He explained: "There are 357 more elephants in poor conditions compared to our 2010 study."
Additional reporting: AFP
