A rare scene of nine wild Asian elephants trying to break through the road fence and force their way through a section of expressway was captured on Friday in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Police officers found that the road fence that is about 10 meters from the expressway has collapsed. And the elephants were watching the passing vehicles.

While tracking and monitoring the elephants, police officers notified relevant departments and launched an emergency plan to prevent the elephants from falling or breaking into the highway, which could lead to accidents or injure the elephants.

"About half an hour later, the elephants left that road section. We waited until about 12:00 for safety concerns," said He Nianling, a police officer.

The elephants were spotted around the expressway for the first time maybe because the expressway sits on the migratory route of the elephants, and might have blocked the elephants' route.

Local authorities are conducting further investigations to solve the problem of blocking elephant migration routes.

Since the Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year, that fell on Feb 12 this year, 48 wild Asian elephants living in Kangping Town have frequently appeared.

The elephants sometimes broke into villagers' homes to eat food, and sometimes ate the corn plants in the fields, bringing great troubles to the production and life of local villagers.

The local forestry department is monitoring the elephants and warning locals to avoid conflict with them.

The Asian elephants, which are under first-class national protection in China, are mainly found in Yunnan. Under the country's increasing conservation efforts, the wild Asian elephant population in Yunnan has risen from about 150 to nearly 300 in less than 30 years.