Wild elephants damaging a school's wall sparked panic in Thailand.

Eleven ravenous beasts from Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary charged at the campus and broke the 6.6 ft (2m) tall concrete fence of Ban Khlong Ta Man School in Prachin Buri, on January 27.

The encounter caused terror among parents and teachers. Aerial footage shows the jumbos barging into the premises.

Teacher Sakawarat Photikerd said that a janitor informed the school director in the morning that the wall had been damaged by wild elephants, prompting an order for repairs.

She said: 'I believe that the elephants were searching for food and, having smelled animal feed, tried to break in to eat it.'

However, they reportedly were unable to get inside and continued walking along the road.

Parent Phayom Mueansanthia expressed safety concerns for the children and teachers, fearing that the wild elephants, which roam the village daily, might hurt them.

Local media reported that wildlife officers and volunteers had been pushing the elephants back to the forest every day, but some remained in Wang Tha Chang and Khao Mai Kaeo sub-districts.

They tracked down and shooed the remaining elephants back into the forest upon receiving a report from local authorities.

Meanwhile, Subdistrict Administrative Organisation officers arrived at the scene to inspect the damage.

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.