A wild elephant broke into a school compound and smashed a gate to flee at night in Thailand.

The jumbo wandered into Ban Nong Prue Kan Yang School to search for food in Chachoengsao province, Thailand on August 3.

It followed the concrete fence and, after roaming the grounds, looked for a way out until it found the steel structure, which it bent down to pass through.

CCTV footage shows the elephant using its trunk to bend the gate forward and then trampling it down with its large limbs on August 3.

Village officer Panya Wajadee said: ‘It strolled out into the community after successfully breaking the gate. We have coordinated with park rangers to guide the elephant back to the forest.'

He added the elephant looked agitated and informed the officers about it.

Wildlife officer Somwong Chantachot said: ‘We organised a unit to monitor the area at night. We also have people in the afternoon to keep the elephant from returning.'

Village officer Panya added a resident in their area was killed by an elephant that broke into a yard and ate mangoes.

He said: 'We are particularly scared because of that. I hope media coverage will prompt the government to address the issue, as the wild elephant has invaded the school for the sixth time.'

Thailand has up to 3,500 elephants in the wild. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in the country 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.