A cheeky wild elephant that was afraid of injections hid in a muddy pond to avoid vets treating its injuries.

The male jumbo named Plai Coke was injured after he had a duel with another elephant over territory in a national park in Rayong province, Thailand.

His wounds festered and needed an antibiotic shot so a team of vets who had been assigned to his case went to treat him - but the jumbo would continuously avoid them.

As it turned out, the mighty jumbo was afraid of needles to the amusement of his vets. Footage shows Plai Coke diving in the water seemingly hoping to disguise himself as a buffalo on February 20.

Vet Dr Pattarapol Maneeorn said: 'The elephant was tired and scared of seeing me with my needles but he couldn't just run away from me, so he hid underwater while eating sugar cane. He was like a baby water buffalo submerging himself in the water.

'Unfortunately, he needed to have an injection to stop the wounds from becoming infected. I hoped he wouldn't be so stubborn. But in the end, the rangers were confident that he would co-operate and he stayed still for his injection, which communicated to us that he knew he needed help and didn't want to avoid us anymore, or he would have run away back the jungle.'

The elephant was eventually given the shot and is now in a stable condition as he recovers from the battle wounds.

Dr Maneeorn added when wild elephants have injuries, they try to find a swamp or puddle to bathe in to keep bugs away from the wound. Fish are also able to eat the dead skin while the cool water helps to ease fevers.

'However, if elephants stay in the water for longer than a week or two, the wounds can become infected,' the doctor said.

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).