Locals chased away dozens of elephants that strayed into a village in India.

The jumbo herd, a total of 27, walked into the town of Karanjua in Odisha from the forest before residents helped drive them back to their habitat on June 8.

Footage shows the large herd being scared by shouting men to leave a grass field. When the animals refused to leave, some of them used fire to control the elephants - waving burning torches at them.

Forest department officers later arrived and used speaker microphones to prevent more locals from getting near the animals.

The regional chief conservator of forests for Mayurbhanj, Prakash Chand Gogineni, said: 'A herd of 27 elephants came from the Thakurmunda area adjacent to Keonjhar district inside the Singada section of Karanjia division of Mayurbhanj district, and they passed near some agricultural lands and settlements.

'There was no damage since there isn't a standing crop there. At this point, the herd is heading into Reserve Forest. A few individuals were pursuing the elephants. We've made them aware that under the Wildlife Protection Act, we will file a complaint against anyone who attempts to harm the elephants.'

The sub-continent has at least 30,000 wild elephants - more than any other country and approximately 60 per cent of the world's entire Asian elephant population.