Sophie plays soccer, prepares for Elephant Appreciation Weekend at Little Rock Zoo

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Meet your next FIFA World Cup most valuable player!

Sophie is an extremely playful elephant who lives in the Little Rock Zoo, and it's not uncommon to see her out in the yards playing with her favorite toys.

Sophie usually spends her time with Babe, one of the other elephants in the video, who often joins her in her silliness.

Along with the playful, silliness side, Sophie is also very smart.

Ellie Wheeler, the zoo’s elephant keeper, said this playful soccer video could be used as an example of Sophie's intelligence.

“You can clearly see her carefully line up her kicks and take calculated and aimed shots with the ball,” said Wheeler. “We give our elephants different food puzzles for them to figure out, and Sophie is usually the most eager to conquer them.”

The balls that Sophie plays with are called "pigs" and are typically used to clean out paraffin deposits and other unwanted accumulations inside of pipelines.

Wheeler said many zoos have donated the pigs to use as toys since they are incredibly strong and durable.

“I have never seen an elephant burst a pig since they are practically solid all the way through,” she said. “We have them in all different sizes as well, one of which weighing a few hundred pounds!”

All three of the zoo’s elephants are former Ringling performers, but most elephants have a playful side regardless of how they grow up.

Luckily for the public, they get to see this playful side of the elephants when they visit them at Little Rock Zoo!

Elephant Appreciation Weekend is coming up at the Little Rock Zoo on Sept. 22-23, where they will be raising money for an organization called Asian Elephant Support.

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Mark your calendars and be sure to join us for Elephant Appreciation Weekend on Saturday, 9/22, and Sunday, 9/23. SATURDAY 10am-12pm: Elephant Open House! 11am: Pictures with the Elephants ($10/picture taken with your phone). All the money goes to Asian Elephant Support. 2pm: Elephant Painting Demo (by gate in yard 3) 2:30pm: Watermelon Eating Contest SUNDAY 10am-12pm: Elephant Open house 11am: Pictures with the Elephants ($10/picture taken with your phone). All the money goes to Asian Elephant Support. 2pm: Elephant Painting Demo (by gate in yard 3) 2:30: Kids make special treats for Elephants to eat! We will also be selling elephant paintings ALL WEEKEND! All the money made will be donated to the Asian Elephant Support. 📷:Pictured is Zina taken by keeper Karen Caster

A post shared by Little Rock Zoo (@littlerockzoo) on Aug 30, 2018 at 8:29am PDT

Guests will have the opportunity to tour the barn behind-the-scenes to learn how they take care of these gentle giants and make treats for the elephants to put out in the yards themselves!

Guests can also race the elephants in a watermelon eating contest, take pictures with them and watch masterpieces being made by the elephants at the painting demo.

Elephant paintings and trunk "kisses" will be sold to support the organization.