Wild elephants play in sand in golf course bunker

This is the adorable moment a herd of wild elephants played in the sand in a golf course bunker.

Footage shows the jumbo family enjoying the sandy hazard while making trumpeting noises in Nakhon Nayok province, Thailand, on May 13.

The animals were believed to be part of a bigger herd of around 40 elephants that raided a residential area nearby earlier that day.

No damage or injuries were reported inside the property but residents worried that the animals would stay longer in the area after finding a new playground.

One of the elephant monitoring volunteers said the jumbos emerged from the forest but there were no players on the golf course that time as the area was closed for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Poppy Jitsangeam said: ‘The golf course was closed for the pandemic.

We followed the animals and they stopped to play here.

The left no damage but they seemed to enjoy playing in the sand.’ The elephants spent around 30 minutes roaming around the course before walking back into the nearby woodland.

Elephants are the national animal of Thailand.

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild and a similar number in captivity.

In the wild, they roam through the deep jungle and in the country’s protected national parks but often encounter humans on roads and in villages.

However, they are protected by laws and killing them carries a maximum prison term of up to three years and a fine of 1,000 baht (25GBP).