A male elephant in Thailand is believed to have "lucky" patterns on the sole of its foot - depicting a jumbo's head and trunk.

Thirty-year-old Plyek lifted its legs one by one for vets at the Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai province to give it a pedicure - picking away dirt stuck in its feet.

When they started with the procedure, they noticed unusual patterns which they believe revealed a bizarre artwork carved onto the callus of its front right foot.

They cleaned out the dried mud stuck between the gaps and scraped the callus away until the image of an elephant proudly waving its trunk stood out.

Young army cadets watched while the calm jumbo received the pedicure and later allowed them to touch the carved artwork on its hoof.

One superstitious mahout, Ratana Srimok, was excited about the pattern and believes that Plyek is a special jumbo.

She said: "I quickly captured the art with my camera. I think the art is a sign that the elephant is a special one."

However, the vets believe that the pattern was only a coincidence and the markings naturally occur through weathering.

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild in Thailand and a similar number in captivity. In the wild, they roam through the deep jungle and in the country's protected national parks.