A herd of capybaras joined a parade around a zoo for the annual Loy Krathong festival in Thailand.

The family of giant rodents followed behind a queue of caretakers holding assorted krathong, or tiny decorative floating vessels, while roaming around their enclosure at the Khon Kaen Zoo on November 15.

Footage shows the capybaras walking along the wooden bridge over the pond in their shelter.

The event took place to mark the religious celebration. It saw staff members making krathong from corn, carrots, and bananas.

They decorated them with yellow trumpet bush flowers and natural materials to protect the pool from pollution.

Zoo director Tipawadee Kittikun, who led the parade, said: 'It was a fun activity for the animals. The tourists could feed the capybaras the edible krathong.'

Apart from the capybaras, the zoo has adorable lion cubs and the famous pygmy hippo Moo Duang. The newborn hippo gained fans after a hippo from another zoo, Moo Deng, became a hit with visitors.

The capybara is the largest living rodent native to South America. It inhabits savannas and dense forests, typically near bodies of water. Highly social, capybaras live in groups that can number up to 100 individuals, though they usually form groups of 10 to 20. The IUCN Red List classifies them as a 'Least Concern' species.

Loy Krathong is a traditional Thai festival celebrated on the full moon night of the 12th month in the Thai lunar calendar, usually in November. The festival is known for its beautiful and symbolic practice of releasing krathongs, or small, decorated floating vessels made from banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense, onto rivers, canals, or other bodies of water.