Now that's a heavy sleeper: Perfect imprint of an elephant's head left in the sand at the spot where it slept

By KERRY MCQUEENEY

Animal art: This incredibly detailed imprint of the elephants was left in the sand when the beast arose from its slumber

On first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled across an impressive piece of wildlife art.
The fine detail - right down to the elephant's trunk and eyes - shows the perfect outline of the gigantic beast.
But this is not the work of an artist. Nor is it likely to remain in the spot where it was found for too much longer.

Jumbo slumber: Two elephants sleep side-by-side on the sand in their enclosure at Chester Zoo

This incredible image shows the imprint of Sundara, an eight-year-old Asian elephant, where it fell asleep in the sand at Chester Zoo.
Staff at the zoo were amazed when they ventured into the elephants' enclosure and found the perfectly-preserved impression of the animal's head in the ground.
The indentation is so clear, it even shows the fine detail of the ridges on the animal's trunk, as well as its ear and eyes.

Staff at Chester Zoo (pictured) were amazed when they ventured into the elephants' enclosure and found the perfectly-preserved impression of the animal's head in the ground

The enclosure's two elephants had fallen asleep on the ground, side-by-side, and - judging by the imprint - Sundara did not appear to move too much during its jumbo slumber.
And, in another stroke of luck, it didn't seem to disturb the impressive artwork when it arose from its snooze.

source: dailymail