A hungry wild elephant casually walked through a Thai police station searching for food.

The wild jumbo emerged from the forest within Khao Yai National park and roamed along the road in Nakhon Ratchasima province on February 1.

Police officers were alerted in case the starving animal becomes aggressive, but it just passed by them calmly focused on looking for something to eat.

One of the officers who saw the jumbo said it did not destroy anything and left immediately upon seeing that there was no food inside.

He said: ‘The elephant walked through the car park and left as if it was only greeting us. We still informed the park ranger about it as it headed to a nearby village.’

The jumbo, identified by park rangers as a male named Krae, crossed the road to the darker part of the village.

Rangers tailed the animal while flashing a torch on the elephant in the dark alley.

It continued searching for food, checking every trash bin it passed by, and walked outside houses.

The jumbo eventually left when it found nothing and followed the path back to the forest.

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild in Thailand and a similar number in captivity, where they live in sanctuaries, zoos or work privately for hire at weddings and festivals.

In the wild, there is a conflict when they come in contact with humans who also use the area for farming and gathering food.

Elephants are a protected animal in Thailand and killing them carries a maximum prison term of up to three years and a fine of 1,000 baht (25GBP).