This is the amusing moment a clumsy elephant fell into a manhole while walking through a family's garden.

The wild male jumbo wandered into the compound at night to look for food but his weight crushed the flimsy cover of a septic tank in Nakhon Nayok province on July 31.

One of his limbs was caught in the hole but he quickly pulled himself out like he was embarrassed to let anyone see him.

CCTV footage shows the jumbo slipping down the manhole before quickly walking backwards to make a hasty retreat from the property. The elephant reportedly went back to the forest afterwards.

Formed policeman Kamol Nonkonmun said he was concerned by the damage when he noticed it in the morning but his CCTV cameras explained the mystery.

He said: ‘Wild Elephants sometimes walk in and out of our property and they normally continue to move along the fence line.

'But this elephant chose to walk where the septic tank was and the cover broke as it could not bear the weight of such a big animal.'

The retired officer added that the elephants would often come and eat fruits and leaves of trees in his home.

He said: ‘Sometimes four elephants would show up at the same time. They come to eat my bananas, coconut and palm trees. I have no plants left on my property because of them.'

The neighborhood on the outskirts of the Khao Yai National Park encounters wild animals including elephants, snakes and sometimes bears.

The cop said: ‘An elephant recently trespassed into my neighbour's house. It broke two electric posts installed at their property entrance, leaving a gap for the elephants to walk through.

‘I have five dogs at home to guard my house and alert me whenever an elephant appears. In the past, officials have worked on pushing the wild elephants back to the national park area. The wild elephant never injured anyone in the community.'

There are an estimated 4,000 elephants in Thailand. About half of these live in captivity in animal camps, zoos, and sanctuaries, while the remainder is found roaming national wildlife parks.