CHIANG RAI, THAILAND: Buddhist monks sprinkled holy water and draped garlands over the necks of 28 elephants at the start of a week-long polo tournament on Monday (March 31st).

After the blessing, the elephants were treated to a sprawling buffet of fruit and vegetables ahead of the first match in a tournament to raise money for conservation projects to protect the beasts.

Seven teams from 15 countries are competing in the tournament. The elephants are actually handled by professional trainers, who guide the animals by kicking and prodding their heads with metal hooks.

The players, who ride on the back behind the trainer, wield a long mallet to whack the ball across a 100 meter-long field.

Each team has three players, and the games consist of two seven-minute chukkas of playing time, with a 15-minute break.

The seventh annual tournament is taking place at the luxury Anantara Golden Triangle resort, on a ridge overlooking the misty hills of neighbouring Laos and Myanmar.

"The elephant polo tournament is a charity event to help elephants," an organiser at the hotel said.

Proceeds from the event benefit the National Elephant Institute, which promotes elephant conservation.

Thailand has an estimated 4,000 elephants - 2,500 domesticated and 1,500 in the wild - sharply down from about 50,000 in 1950, according to polo organisers.