Nepal hosts World Elephant Polo Championships

This is a polo challenge of jumbo proportions. Elephants converged on a special pitch in the Bardia National Park, West Nepal, to take part in the World Elephant Polo Championships. This special tournament drew teams from all over the globe including Australia, Scotland, the USA as well as the United Arab Emirates and Austria. But, it was host nation Nepal who claimed the big prize. We have supported this country with Elephant Polo ever since 1982 and will continue to do so and this year in fact is the biggest tournament we have ever had, twelve teams competing in these championships and three new countries coming to the frame, so we are very excited about this year, said president of the World Elephant Polo Association Peter Prentice. The sport was founded nearly 30 years ago by two British adventurers Jim Edwards and James Manclark. The rules of a the game are similar to horse polo. The smaller and younger elephants are the fastest and are mainly used in an attacking position. Each game consists of two chukkas of ten minutes. Opposing teams swap elephants at the end of the first chukka to avoid any of the teams gaining advantage. The elephants are also controlled by 'mahouts' or drivers, so the players can concentrate on wielding the extra long polo sticks. These beasts they love it, they're out there they love it they actually know what's going on, if the ball gets under them they know exactly what to do, not put their foot on the ball, its just incredible what they do, you can tell they genuinely love the competition and although its interesting some of them don't get on with each other and there playing against each other in some ways,Australian team captain Creel Price said. No more than three elephants in one half of a pitch at a time are allowed in order to avoid the animals' herd instincts of crowding themselves into a huddle. After a week of competition among the teams, spectators gathered eagerly to watch Thailand and Nepal vie for first prize.