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A herd of elephants that packed their trunks for a 300 mile journey across China have been spotted having a well-deserved snooze.

The elephants have become famous for trekking across the country for the last 15 months.

The extraordinary trip - travelling several miles from their natural habitat - has seen them roam through fields, villages and even cities.

It is unclear exactly when or why they left home to begin the epic journey, but authorities have been closely monitoring their movements.

There are 15 elephants in the herd, including three baby calves. One male has broken free and is currently about 4km (2.5 miles) away from the rest of the group, according to the Yunnan Forest Firefighting Brigade which is in charge of monitoring them.

It's been suggested that an inexperienced herd leader may have led the group on the unusual journey, while others think the elephants could be searching for a new home.

The Asian elephant is an endangered species. China has only about 300 wild elephants, mainly in the south of Yunnan province.

Scientists say this is the furthest any of the wild elephants there have travelled from the habitat.

The local government has deployed 14 drones and some 500 people to keep the herd safe, and to steer them away from close-by roads.

Previous efforts to turn them around have failed, but the herd now seems to be turning back and heading home, probably to the Mengyangzi Nature Reserve in Xishuangbanna, in south-west Yunnan province.

During their march across the country the animals have been eating millions of dollars worth of crops, damaging buildings and poking their trunks through doors and windows. The herd also visited the city of Kunming, where millions of people live.

They were last seen resting near a village in Xiyang township after heavy rain slowed down their travels.