BERLIN - Two runaway circus elephants in Germany surprised passersby and police by showing up at a bus stop during a brief bid for freedom, officials in Hanover said Tuesday.

Dunia, a 40-year-old Indian elephant, and her counterpart Daela, a 25-year-old African elephant, were apprehended by police near the western city of Hanover over the weekend nonchalantly munching on tree leaves and looking for all the world as if they were waiting for the bus.

The pair had escaped from their enclosure at a nearby travelling circus and walked some 50 metres (165 feet) to the stop, police said.

"It was simply an unlucky situation for the circus," Hanover police spokesman Heiko Steiner said. "The two elephants were quite cooperative and peaceful. Everyone was amused."

If the two were trying to make an escape, they were not going far, Steiner said. The police station is only a stone's throw from the bus stop, which is out of use during the summer school holiday.