Elephants Play Soccer & Enter Beauty Pageant In Nepal

Whenever I hear about a festival that celebrates animals, it always pulls at my heartstrings. I love when people find new ways to interact and include animals into our lives. This particular way might be a little odd, but after reading about how well cared for these elephants are, I give it a high-five.

This week the annual 3-day elephant festival was held in Nepal. In addition to other activities, people gathered to watch an elephant race, an elephant beauty pageant and even an elephant soccer game. In case you are wondering, in the beauty pageant, the elephants were judged on movement, physique, health, cleanliness, sense and capabilities and the decorations that their owners painted on them. Most of them came to the event complete with beautifully polished pedicures. The elephant who won was 28-years-old, and she was wearing a pink cape and had flowers painted on her toenails.

The elephants who played soccer gave it their all, and they used all four feet and even their trunks to score goals. Apparently they are trained to hit the ball when someone yells “kick.” The elephants were even treated to a special meal of rice and sugar wrapped in grass. People traveled from Britain, Germany, China, Brazil and other countries just for this event. Oh, and congratulations to Miss Elephant Universe. We hope you got a sparkly crown!