This is the dramatic moment a group of locals used firecrackers to scare away a herd of elephants.

Forestry officers and villagers lit up the loud explosives to keep the jungle beasts from entering farmland and residential areas in Lampung, Indonesia.

Footage captured by villager Memo Ahmad Ja'alfi shows the men directing the pyrotechnics at six wild pachyderms, which left the area at Way Kambas National Park on July 2.

The tuskers can be seen fleeing behind huge trees while the crowds made noise.

Memo said: 'They used firecrackers because it is safer and does not hurt the elephants. If we do not move them away, they will destroy the crops and might bother houses.'

The regent, the local police chief, the head of the national park, and other agencies were reportedly present and helped guide the elephants back to the forest after 12 hours of chasing them.

Indonesia has up to 1,700 elephants in the wild. In the last 25 years, the country has lost over 69 per cent of suitable Sumatran elephant habitat.

The main threats to wild elephants in Indonesia are habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans.