Cleaning sheds for the elephants every morning, feeding them, checking their health status, and taking them to nearby forests for field survival training ... Xiong Chaoyong's daily routine is all about the giant creatures he looks after.

Located in Xishuangbanna, southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Center is the country's only facility to engage in elephant rescue and care mission.

Bordering the Laos and Myanmar, Xishuangbanna boasts the country's largest habitat for Asian elephants, mainly due to its large area of rainforest.

Xiong joined the center in 2005 when an elephant called Ranran was seriously injured, and someone who knew how to nurse the giants was needed.

"Back then, I thought her chances of survival were slim," Xiong recalled, noting that Ranran had injured a vet during the treatment before he came here. He said some experts almost gave up on her and even proposed euthanasia.

"But I think we only have the right to rescue her, which is also our obligation," said the 39-year-old keeper who call himself an "elephant dad".

Through Xiong's meticulous care, Ranran survived and grew up healthily. In 2019, she gave birth to a baby, and Xiong joked that he has luckily become a "grandpa".

Over the years, Xiong and other keepers have completed scores of rescue missions in the wild, taking back some 10 elephants who were injured for different reasons or deserted.

In 2015, UK's Prince William visited the center and fed carrots to Ranran.

Xiong feels guilty about his own daughter because he spends more time with Ranran.

"They are both my children in my heart. My daughter is very supportive of my job and she often asks me about her sister Ranran," said Xiong.

Not just Xiong, other keepers here all take care of the animals just as if they were their own children. Xiong said all of them have a special feeling towards the tuskers.

"Every day I'm working, when I see the ones who were almost on the brink of death greeting us happily through our efforts, my heart fills with a sense of happiness and accomplishment," he said.

Today, the elephants and their keepers have formed a close bond. Xiong recalled a dangerous experience. One time, he suddenly fell down while walking with Ranran in the forest, and slid down uncontrollably.

As Xiong described, seeing this, Ranran screamed, took one step forward quickly and put her head against the ground, so Xiong was able to stop by pressing against her head.

"I rose to my feet and held her nose for several minutes, and she was also making a low and deep voice like comforting me. At that moment, I couldn't help shedding tears for the mutual trust between us. It means that when you encounter difficulties or danger, she will come forward without hesitation, because you once helped her," said Xiong.

To his delight, more and more younger people are showing passion towards this job. 23-year-old Zhou Fanyi has chosen to work as an "elephant dad" here after getting a master's degree from Beijing Normal University.

"By working here, I can try to do what I can to protect the elephants, and at the same time improve myself by gaining more knowledge about them," Zhou said. "I think it's an interesting and meaningful job, as there are still many questions about Asian elephants to be answered."

Yunnan is China's only province where Asian elephants inhabit. Over the past decades, the population of the species has steadily grown, which has amounted to more than 300. In recent years, local authorities have made great efforts to protect the giant neighbors and defuse the conflict between the animals and local residents.

Xiong said he feels it an honor to be an "elephant dad" and will continue to do what he can for the conservation of the creatures.

"I hope we humans can live more harmoniously with elephants in the future," he said.

(All photos courtesy of Xiong Chaoyong)

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