Friday December 28
This simple painting looks like it was the work of a child - and certainly not the sort of thing you would see on display.
But far from being a toddler's creation, the picture of is in fact an elephant's own self-portrait which we watched him complete.
Led by a trainer, he trotted over to his easel - holding his pallet of paints with his trunk.
The brush dipped in the paint for him, the animal then carefully crafted the picture in front of us at the Maetaman Elephant Camp, near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The mammal - one of dozens that have been trained to perform at the site - completes the drawings in return for rewards in the form of sugar cane and bananas handed out by adoring tourists.
The animal is made to perform several times a day in a show put on by the camp owners.
The completed pictures sell in the shop for 1,000 Thai baht - or around £20.
Other elephant performers take penalty kicks against a human goalkeeper. And the animals dance to music for the crowds.
Critics on TripAdvisor have branded the tourist attraction cruel and called for it to be shut down.
Some of the animals in the park are chained up for hours on end. The training of baby elephants take years and is conducted out of the public's view. One suspects that the carrot is deployed far less often than the stick when no one is watching.
However, the animals appear healthy and will certainly be better kept than at other attractions across Thailand.
The reality is that domestic cats, dogs, horses and animals that work the land have been trained for centuries to perform useful tasks for us. In some ways this is no different.
Elephants will be distinguished from these other animals because they are highly intelligent creatures. Nevertheless, dolphins in SeaWorld, Florida, are also trained to perform on demand.
The biggest problem with training elephants to entertain is that, unlike in the US, we don't know as much about how well the animals are looked after behind the tourists' backs.
There are so many tourist attractions across northern Thailand offering cut-price elephant experiences and so little regulation, it raises the suspicion that vast numbers of these animals are badly kept.
When watching an elephant paint it was impossible to know whether to be impressed, or horrified, by what we were seeing.
VIDEO: Another elephant takes a penalty kick
This simple painting looks like it was the work of a child - and certainly not the sort of thing you would see on display.
But far from being a toddler's creation, the picture of is in fact an elephant's own self-portrait which we watched him complete.
 |
| The finished work |
 |
| Artist: The painting elephant at Maetaman Elephant Camp, December 28. |
The brush dipped in the paint for him, the animal then carefully crafted the picture in front of us at the Maetaman Elephant Camp, near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The mammal - one of dozens that have been trained to perform at the site - completes the drawings in return for rewards in the form of sugar cane and bananas handed out by adoring tourists.
The animal is made to perform several times a day in a show put on by the camp owners.
The completed pictures sell in the shop for 1,000 Thai baht - or around £20.
Other elephant performers take penalty kicks against a human goalkeeper. And the animals dance to music for the crowds.
Critics on TripAdvisor have branded the tourist attraction cruel and called for it to be shut down.
 |
| He gets to work - holding the paintbrush with his nose. A helper dips the brush in paint |
 |
However, the animals appear healthy and will certainly be better kept than at other attractions across Thailand.
The reality is that domestic cats, dogs, horses and animals that work the land have been trained for centuries to perform useful tasks for us. In some ways this is no different.
Elephants will be distinguished from these other animals because they are highly intelligent creatures. Nevertheless, dolphins in SeaWorld, Florida, are also trained to perform on demand.
The biggest problem with training elephants to entertain is that, unlike in the US, we don't know as much about how well the animals are looked after behind the tourists' backs.
There are so many tourist attractions across northern Thailand offering cut-price elephant experiences and so little regulation, it raises the suspicion that vast numbers of these animals are badly kept.
When watching an elephant paint it was impossible to know whether to be impressed, or horrified, by what we were seeing.
VIDEO: Another elephant takes a penalty kick
 |
| A crowd of around 50 tourists watched as the elephant painted. The works sell for 20GBP - or 1,000 Thai Baht in the gift shop. Several are created each day |
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| Easel does it: The work finished, he walks off with his paints |
