Pandamonium! Elephants Painted Like Pandas For Attention (4 pics)

I'm not sure if this qualifies as animal cruelty or is just a brilliant idea. Though the elephant is considered Thailand's national symbol, it hasn't been getting much attention lately since the birth of a panda cub at a Bangkok zoo. In order to draw attention back onto the elephant, keepers at the Ayutthaya-Elephant Kraal painted five neglected elephants black and white to look like pandas and then paraded them before schoolchildren. What the heck is going on here!?