This is the adorable moment a wild elephant cooled off in a pond.
Footage shows the playful jumbo, Plai Hong Thong, frolicking in the water near homes in Trat province, eastern Thailand, on August 23.
The bull splashed and rolled around in the murky pool before returning to the forest.
Village officers were dispatched to the scene the night earlier, when Plai Hong Thong and his herd were seen searching for food in the community.
The herd had feasted on fruits in locals' orchards and have since gone back into the woods.
As of 2023, there are an estimated 3,084-3,500 wild elephants in Thailand. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The main threats to wild elephants in Thailand are habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans.
