It was unclear why the wild Asian elephants, a protected species in China, strayed from the Xishuangbanna national nature reserve in Yunnan province.
But since April, the animals have embarked on a 500km journey, closely monitored by residents and authorities, with hundreds of people mobilised to ensure public safety.
On Tuesday, Yunnan authorities said the herd was
20km from the provincial capital of Kunming, home to millions of people.
Since mid-April, the elephants have wrecked around 56 hectares of crops, causing an estimated 6.8m yuan ($1.07m) in losses, CCTV said.
No casualties have been reported so far, with locals attempting to guide the animals with food and by blocking roads with trucks.
The wild elephant population in Yunnan is around 300, up from 193 in the 1980s, reported Xinhua.