At 1 a.m. on the 10th, Beijing time, the Asian elephant herd moving north from Yunnan completely entered its traditional habitat of Ning'er County, Pu'er City. So far, the "elephant tour group" that has attracted global attention has finally "returned home" safely. The elephants' "trip" took more than 110 days and more than 1,300 kilometers, covering more than half of Yunnan. The process was "watched" by netizens around the world and sparked heated discussions.
At 1 a.m. on the 10th, Beijing time, the Asian elephant herd moving north from Yunnan completely entered its traditional habitat of Ning'er County, Pu'er City. At this point, the elephant tour group that attracted global attention finally returned home safely.
The Yunnan provincial monitoring and relocation assistance operation has basically ended, and all relocation assistance personnel have been withdrawn. This herd of elephants, known as the Broken Nose family, had previously left their habitat and headed north, traveling through most of Yunnan and reaching Kunming City. Now that they are home safely, netizens are finally relieved: the elephants have gone on a trip and are finally home!
The migration process of Asian elephants
According to the provincial headquarters for the safety and prevention of the Asian elephants moving north in Yunnan, at 1:00 on the 10th, Beijing time, the Asian elephants moving north safely passed through the turbulent waters. The Bianjiang River flows from Mojiang County, Pu'er City into Ning'er County, Pu'er City.
The headquarters believes that after the elephants crossed the Yuanjiang River on August 8, they crossed the Amo River and the Babian River and completely entered the traditional habitat of Ning'er. At this point, the provincial monitoring and relocation assistance operation has basically ended, all relocation assistance personnel have been withdrawn, and the daily monitoring of the elephant herds has been handed over to the municipal and county-level forestry and grassland departments. During the entire process of moving north and returning south with assistance, humans and elephants were safe.
Previous movements of the elephants
According to previous reports, on April 16 this year, 17 Asian elephants entered Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City from Mojiang County, Pu'er City, leaving their traditional habitat. The herd of elephants moved all the way north, with 2 elephants returning on the way, and the remaining 15 elephants continued to move north, reaching as far north as the Jinning District of Kunming City.
On July 7, a lone elephant that strayed from the herd was captured alive under anesthesia and returned to its original habitat, the breeding area of ??the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. In August, the elephant herds began to return south. On the 8th of that month, 14 elephants safely crossed the main stream of the Yuanjiang River and entered Mojiang County, Pu'er City on the 12th.
An Extraordinary Journey
The elephants traveled more than 110 days, more than 1,300 kilometers, and traveled through most of Yunnan. The process was watched by netizens around the world and sparked heated discussions.
Many experts said that the number of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan has increased by about 300, and it is not ruled out that elephant travel incidents will occur in the future. This time, the Chinese monitoring team innovatively used route prediction, deployment and control. The flexible intervention technology combined with feeding provides a model that can be used for reference in mitigating human-elephant conflicts in the future.