China's wandering elephants are almost home

The wandering herd of fourteen wild elephants is once again near its nature reserve.

In March 2020, the herd left its home and settled in a protected habitat in the city of Pu’er. In April of this year, 15 of the elephants left Pu’er and covered 1,300 km through Yunnan province.

The herd began its journey with 16 members, though three dropped out along the way while two calves were born en route. In June, a bull elephant separated from the group and continued on alone.

In July, the bull elephant was sedated with a tranquilliser dart, lifted into a cage on the back of a truck, and brought back.

To safeguard the elephants' journey, local authorities deployed trucks, workers, and drones to monitor the elephants around the clock, cleared roads so they could pass safely, and lured them away from inhabited areas with food.

On their journey, the herd passed through eight counties in Yunnan province. In June, it finally reached the outskirts of Kunming, the provincial capital with around 8 million inhabitants.

According to CCTV, after 18 months the herd is now located in the Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, approximately 103 km from Xishuangbanna, their original nature reserve.

It is not clear why the wildlife left their original habitat, but the space available to China's last native elephants has shrunk over the years. Asian elephants live mainly in tropical forests.

The number of wild elephants in China has doubled to over 300 in the past three decades, but their habitat has shrunk by almost two-thirds over the same period.

Asian elephants are under first-class state protection in China and are classified as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

People destroyed the tropical forests of Xishuangbanna to establish banana, tea, or rubber plantations, or to grow lucrative raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine.

The safe return of the herd from its journey was «very significant«, according to a statement published by headquarters on Friday. «It gives us the opportunity to learn more about the elephants, and also demonstrates China's determination to build an environmentally friendly country.

Historically, Asian elephants lived in many parts of the country. Migration is in their nature. It helps the species expand its territory and improve its gene pool by mating with different groups.