Wild baby elephant sparks panic after rampaging through music festival

A wild baby elephant sparked panic after rampaging through a music festival.

The band were rehearsing for their performance when the music startled a nearby herd in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

A large mother elephant fled into nearby woodland but the baby scattered from the pack before gatecrashing the show on Monday (January 6) afternoon.

Terrified locals fled while two others tried to pull back the elephant by its tail.

It shrugged them off and continued the rampage - flinging chairs out of the way with its powerful trunk.

Musician Watcharin Yodkamlueng was on stage at the time and recorded the baby jumbo stomping through the chairs.

Watcharin said the mother was tracked down and locals helped to calm her down.

But the baby refused to surrender and disappeared into the forest.

The singer said: "I was hired to play here by the local village and the spot where we set up the stage was near an elephant camp.

"When we were practising for the show, the mother and son elephant were startled by the loud noise and ran into the event area.

"The mother was caught easily and calmed down but the baby was playful and was harder to tame.

He stomped through and crashed into the tables and chairs.

''I can say for sure that this is the first time elephants have interrupted any of my shows.'' The band continued with their performance of traditional Thai folk music an hour later once the damage had been sorted out and the mother elephant had been lead back into the forest.

It is believed that the baby elephant would have eventually rejoined its herd.