An 'arrest warrant' has been issued for a hot-tempered wild elephant that killed a villager and damaged crops in Thailand.

The aggressive 25-year-old male jumbo named Seedo-Nok trampled to death Sutha Sriala, 73, while she was picking wild fruits and vegetables Prachin Buri province on February 24.

Officials claim that Seedo-Nok also has a history of raiding people's homes and had previously been caught banging its trunk on a family's windows and trampling all over their crops.

Locals have even complained that they have stopped gardening amid fears the violent male elephant could appear and hurt them.

Wildlife officers said they have tried to stop the elephant from entering residential areas but it keeps stomping through gardens in search of food.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation has now made an order to catch Seedo-Nok and transfer him to a new region. Rungnapha Pattanaipul signed the order, which is effectively an arrest warrant for the elephant, on March 15. It also instructed rangers to be 'extremely careful' when they approach Seedo-Nok because he is 'very dangerous'.

Officers now hope to capture the elephant before moving it to an area in the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary. A GPS collar has also been installed on the elephant to track its movement and to prevent it from leaving the area.

Prayoon Sompoch, Prime Minister of the Khao Mai Kaew Sub-District Administration Organization, said: ‘Seedo-Nok circles back and forth to the community. The villagers can only watch and monitor where the elephant is to prevent it from hurting them.’

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

An estimated 2,000 elephants are living in the wild and a similar number in captivity. In the wild, they roam through the deep jungle and in the country’s protected national parks, but often encounter humans on roads and in villages.