Wild elephant herd spreads destruction, fear in China

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – A herd of wild Asian elephants that has traveled some several hundred kilometers from forests in China’s south is nearing a major city in the southwestern Yunnan province, local media reported on Wednesday.

The herd of 15 wild elephants has covered nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) on its unprecedented journey from a nature reserve in Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The six female adults, three male adults, three sub-adults, and three calves are now just outside Kunming, a city of some 7 million people and the capital of Yunnan.

The herd has damaged many properties and crop fields during its exceptional expedition, causing direct economic losses of about 6.8 million yuan ($1.1 million), but there have been no casualties, the report said.

There were 16 elephants in the herd that left the reserve last year to roam in nearby areas, before one dropped out and two were born in the journey, according to China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

“Officials became alert in April when the 17-member herd turned north to visit Yuanjiang County under the city of Yuxi. Another two adults left the herd for home while the rest continued to travel north,” read the Xinhua report.

Last Thursday, the 15 elephants reached the town of Eshan and “walked the streets for six hours after authorities evacuated pedestrians and vehicles and warned residents to stay indoors.”

Authorities have now set up an on-site command center to monitor the herd’s movements.

Barriers have been set up at various locations, 76 police cars, dirt trucks, nine drones, and some 360 people have been mobilized, and around 18 tons of elephant food has been prepared, the report said.

While there is no explanation yet for the extraordinary, the report cited reduced food supply due to growing density of forests as a possible reason, with the plants the elephants eat gradually replaced by non-edible varieties.

“This is the first time that China has recorded such a long-distance northward migration of wild elephants. Migration of Asian elephants is common, but it usually happens between several habitats in a certain area,” said Chen Mingyong, an Asian elephant expert at Yunnan University.

“It is very rare for them to travel such a distance to the north. We can't tell what their destination is. It is possible that the chief of the herd lacks experience and led the whole group astray.”