Jumbo's toenail treat

Noorjahan gets a pedicure at Twycross Zoo

Her favourite food is bananas, she weighs nearly two tons and she celebrated her eighth birthday with a pedicure.

Noorjahan, an Indian elephant, who is one of the star attractions at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire was rewarded with a little special attention on Friday.

There were also large slices of birthday cake all round as Noorjahan and zoo staff enjoyed her pedicure party.

Zoo manager John Ray said the pedicure had a serious side as well: "Foot care is very important to elephants."

Power drill

He told the BBC: "In the wild they may walk between five and seven miles a day but in captivity it's a lot less and their nails become overgrown.

"Tough skin can also appear on the pad of the elephant's foot.

A large drill is used to trim Noorjahan's toes

"A foot infection can lead to death. So we are very careful about elephant's feet."

It takes about 20 minutes to carry out a pedicure on each foot.

Zoo staff use a large file and a small power drill to deal with any problems they might find.

"It's a tough job but one that needs to be done," Mr Ray said.

Noorjahan was once a working elephant at a logging camp in West Bengal but when she was no longer needed a new home was found for her at a zoo in Calcutta before she moved again to Twycross.

To make a day an elephant will never forget, the cake was made from chocolate sponge, which also proved to be a big hit with the four other elephants and zoo staff.