Three wild elephants ruined a school gate as they wandered through a village in Thailand at night.

The trio of jumbos were spotted ambling past a local market before breaking down the gate of the Ban Chum Sang School in Rayong province on February 15.

Alarmed residents, fearing the wild animals might cause further damage, called wildlife officials to drive them out of the neighbourhood.

The tuskers left through the school's back gate without harming anyone.

Local teacher Somporn Chankhonkaen said: 'Elephants don't normally go here. It's the first time they ventured into this residential area. They damaged the school gate, and we had to call a worker to have it fixed.'

Homeowners said the three elephants were often seen wandering around the Wang Chan and Khao Chamao districts, but had never wandered into the community area until that evening.

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.