A Thai zoo built a large shower station for its elephants 'to prevent overheating'.

The Khon Kaen Zoo constructed the umbrella-like shower booth fitted with sprinklers for its resident jumbo named Pang Jim, 41, who was feeling the effects of soaring temperatures.

Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoy said they installed the bath due to blistering temperatures in Thailand during the hot season, with temperatures commonly reaching around 40 degrees Celsius.

He said: 'The heat could cause stress and negatively impact the elephant's health, so we built the shower station for Pang Jim to cool off.'

He added that elephants are known to enjoy playing with water and have a natural inclination towards cleanliness.

Pang Jim, born in 1981, was acquired by the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand from an individual in Kanchanaburi province on June 17, 1982. She was subsequently transported to Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, where she was exhibited, before being relocated to the Dusit Zoo.

When that zoo closed down, she was then transferred to the Elephant Kingdom Project in Surin province, before finally moving to her current residence at the Khon Kaen Zoo last December 2021.

The gentle giant has earned a reputation among zookeepers and visitors as being polite and obedient.

Narongwit invited visitors to see Pang Jim at the zoo, which is open from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild - down from 100,000 a century ago - and around 3,000 in captivity owned privately. In the wild they are seen wandering freely among protected forests, occasionally appearing on the roads that run through them.

Male Asian elephants, unlike African elephants, roam alone once they are over ten years old while females remain with the herd. They are most during mating season from November to January when they emerge from the jungles in search of a mate.

There is conflict when they come into contact with humans on rural roads and in villages so wildlife rangers are tasked with monitoring their movements.