A herd of around 100 wild elephants were caught on drone footage stealing food from a farm in Thailand.

The hungry creatures from the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary entered a sugarcane field in Prachin Buri province, and began munching on the crops, disrupting local farmers' livelihoods.

Authorities held a meeting on January 10 to discuss how to keep the jumbos inside the forests and stop affecting nearby properties.

It was not the first time the pachyderms had feasted on crops, as the herd had previously broken a villager's fence to eat the rice he had planted.

Officials flew a drone to survey the area, and found more than 100 elephants gathered.

Prachin Buri governor Ronnarong Nakornjinda said: 'The elephants will be guided back to the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary when everything is ready.

'We would like to ask residents to monitor the situation while staff are trying to keep these elephants out of residential areas.

'We will discuss with the relevant parties to find a long-term solution to keep these elephants in the wildlife sanctuary permanently.'

He added that the affected farmers will be compensated for the damages.

Village council chief Wanchai Thong-om said that more than 100 people gathered at night to keep the wild elephants at bay.

However, he asked for more assistance as the animals walk through the area regularly, straining their limited manpower.

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protected forests. Male Asian elephants, unlike African elephants, roam alone once they are over 10 years old while females remain with the herd.

There is sometimes conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages so wildlife rangers are tasked with monitoring their movements.

A similar number of elephants in the country are also kept in captivity to work in the tourist industry or at religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.