A wild elephant in China's southwestern Yunnan province wandered on to a tourist road on Monday and damaged cars for the third time in the past week.

The elephant, named "Zhusunya" or "Dusunya" by locals, first left a nature reserve on Friday and damaged 14 cars parked along the road, and another four on Sunday. It then dented nine more cars during the rampage on Monday.

It was probably angry after losing a fight for a mate, state run Xinhua news agency cited local workers as saying.

Local police officers were busy checking the damaged cars and trying to evacuate people in the area.

Police said the elephant had crushed some vehicles with its massive weight.

One of the witnesses said she saw the elephant walking towards their tourist coach and that everyone on the coach was frightened by it.

"At that moment all of us were sitting in the coach and were very scared. The elephant then focused on our coach and hit the front door of our coach. The elephant crashed the door of our car with its forehead," said the unnamed tourist from northeastern Jilin province.

Dozens of tourists and locals were seen near the site, watching the apparently 'jilted' elephant showing its frustrations.

Xinhua reported the insurance companies are investigating the conditions of the cars and will offer compensation soon.