BOUBA THE ELEPHANT

Who needs Kylian Mbappe when you have a tightroping pachyderm, eh?

Monaco’s performances on the field may have grabbed the headlines in recent times, but their mascot is determined not to be overshadowed. After mysteriously disappearing for a period, Bouba the Elephant made his glorious return to the club last year and swiftly set about trying to qualify for the Rio Olympics, obviously. Sadly Bouba’s hopes were dashed: the 100m time he posted on the track at Monaco’s Stade Louis II was not about to trouble Usain Bolt. He did soar to 3m in the pole vault, though – not too shabby for an elephant, and briefly earning him the nickname ‘Sergey Bouba’. Just another 3.17m to go, and the world record is his. Bouba is named after a real elephant that used to reside at the zoo next to the club’s former stadium: supposedly the animal could occasionally be heard over the ‘noise’ of the crowd at games. Mascot Bouba undertook an even more daring stunt this January: attempting a tightrope walk between two massive rocks overlooking the stadium, at an altitude of 500m. Suspiciously, however, the pachyderm suddenly appeared to have some human feet. In fact, hold on a minute, Monaco had a mascot that disappeared for a while, then returned in 2016? It’s Radamel Falcao in that suit, isn’t it?