This is the terrifying moment a wild elephant attacked an excavator clearing a forest in Thailand.

The agitated female jumbo named Pang Chatri emerged from the wilderness and then charged at workers cutting down eucalyptus trees in the Lat Krathing Forest in Chachoengsao province on September 16.

Most of the workers ran away upon seeing the 10-year-old rampaging elephant, leaving the excavator operator stuck inside the cabin.

Drone footage shows an angry Pang Chatri ramming the heavy equipment as the driver spun the vehicle around to keep the animal from reaching him.

The other workers later returned and set off firecrackers and small explosives, hoping the noise would drive the elephant away.

However, Pang Chatri besieged the excavator for more than three hours before finally becoming tired and walking back into the jungle.

Wildlife officials from the Khao Ang Rue Nai district sent a team with heat-seeking drones to search the elephant and drive it further back into the woodland. They then assisted the terrified excavator driver in escaping.

Officers remained in the area monitoring Pang Chatri to ensure she did not walk into the nearby community. Villagers living in the area had also been warned of her presence.

Authorities believe Pang Chatri attacked because she had been stressed by the noise of the cutting equipment.

As of 2023, there are an estimated 3,084-3,500 wild elephants in Thailand. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The main threats to wild elephants in Thailand are habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans.