But when Mr Tan Juan Yew and his family visited the Singapore Zoo two weeks ago, they were startled to see an elephant running freely on a pedestrian path.

'About four or five zookeepers were running behind it. There was some commotion as people tried to get out of the way,' the 33-year-old told The Sunday Times.

Read Shuli Sudderuddin's full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.