AN elephant has proved she is in a league of her own as she shows off her flair with a football.

Forget Nelly the Elephant, Latabe is more like Pele the Elephant.

The 15-year-old African elephant at West Midland Safari Park, near Bewdley, has proved to be a champion of her league with fancy footwork and her ability to keep the goalie on his toes.

Not only is Latabe great at dribbling, she is remarkably good on set pieces and is certainly a match for 23-year-old Lewis Hodson, her keeper of eight years.

Latabe's skills were recognised four weeks ago when she started kicking a ball around during playtime.

Mr Hodson is passionate about football and he said Latabe proved to be the perfect opponent.

"She appears to know exactly what to do and what the goal is for," he said.

"There is little doubt that Latabe is honing her footie skills to perfection and seems to enjoy every minute that she is on the pitch.

"There may not be a champion's cup waiting for her, but Latabe has certainly won the admiration of her fans at West Midland Safari Park."

West Midland Safari Park has three elephants, all of which were rescued from an elephant orphanage in 1998.

The other two are called Five and Jack and Mr Hodson said Five had proved to be an excellent artist, while Jack likes to help with heavy duties like pulling vehicles - a real jack of all trades.

Now Latabe has surprised everyone with her new pastime.

Mr Hodson said: "There is little doubt that while Latabe has added a few noughts to her transfer fee, she is staying where she is - at West Midland Safari Park."

West Midland Safari Park opened in 1973 and is home to the only pride of rare white lions in the UK and has the largest family group of white tigers.

West Midland Safari & Leisure Park is open from 10am daily until Friday, November 7.

Admission costs £10.50 per person.