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China's migrating elephant herd heads 9.3 km further north
CGTN

China's herd of 14 wandering wild Asian elephants has traveled further north, re-entering Shijie Township in Yimen County in southwest China's Yunnan Province, authorities said on Monday.

The herd headed 9.3 kilometers north between 6 p.m. on Sunday and the same time on Monday. In recent days, they had moved back and forth within Yimen and Eshan counties, posing great challenges for on-site command and coordination of their migration.

There are many villages around the herd's migration route, and they are scattered, which has added to the difficulty of safely protecting the herd and residents, according to the headquarters in charge of monitoring the elephants' migration.

A male elephant, which strayed 16 days ago, is now about 24.6 km away in a forest in Kunming, the provincial capital.

Experts are continuing to work on plans to guide the elephants' migration, and precautions have been taken to ensure the safety of both the animals and residents. On Monday, 186 people were mobilized, 4,106 residents were evacuated, and 100 kilograms of food was provided for the elephants.

The animals have traveled about 500 km north from their forest home in southern Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, reaching Kunming on June 2.

For over a month, authorities have sent police to escort the herd, evacuated roads to facilitate their passage and used food to distract them from entering densely populated areas.

Asian elephants are primarily found in Yunnan and are under top-level state protection in China. Thanks to enhanced protection efforts, wild elephant population in the province grew to about 300, up from 193 in the 1980s.

(Cover image is a screenshot of a drone video filmed last week.) 

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

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