Elephant football enthralls crowd in Nepal

Chitwan (Nepal), Dec 31: Thousands thronged in at annual elephant festival as elephant calves exhibited its football skills at Chitwan district of Nepal.

One of the highlights of the Chitwan Elephant Festival, which was recently held here was the soccer match of baby elephants -- an event which attracts locals as well as tourists.

The elephants kicked around a regular-sized soccer ball under the guidance of their mahouts, dribbling and scoring, just like human soccer players.

A member of the Australian team said she enjoyed the game and was very impressed with their skills.

"It was good to watch, it was definitely a good small goalkeeper, it did a good job," said a participant.

The elephant festival is in its sixth year and is held every year between Christmas and New Year at Sauraha, the gateway to Chitwan National Park.

Other festival events included an elephant race, which took place at the weekend drawing teams from all over Nepal as well as two foreign teams from Slovakia and Australia.

The top three places in the race were won by local teams and the "Champakali" team, representing Hotel Barahi of Pokhara, bagged the top prize.

ANI