Thailand lays on jumbo fruit buffet for elephants

Huge bunches of bananas and tonnes of sugar cane topped the menu for one of Thailand's most heavyweight all-you-can-eat buffets - the annual National Elephant Day lunch.

More than 70 elephants took part in the festivities, held at the Maesa Elephant Camp sanctuary in Chiang Mai since 1998, when the government declared March 13 National Thai Elephant Day.



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The elephant is Thailand's national animal and government officials hope events like National Elephant Day will make people revere them as it tries to conserve its elephant population, now around 4,500.