Chen Fei has been to a lot of places around China, from Mount Qomolangma to the tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna. But he doesn't travel for leisure.
Chen is the director of the Asian Elephant Research Center under China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration. For more than a decade, the 37-year-old man has been working on the protection of China's wildlife and the country's nature reserves, and has led dozens of scientific surveys and planning projects.
"I have a special affinity for nature," Chen said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG). "I was born in a small county by the Yangtze River. I used to herd cows. I watched them chew grass, observed the grasshoppers in the grass and the longhorn beetles on the tree trunks. It was fun."
"Seeing the sun shines on the giant trees, I could even feel the plants' growing power."
Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. /CMG
As a member of the Chinese delegation to the 19th Conference of the Parties (CoP19) to the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Panama in 2022, Chen told the story of China's famous wandering Asian elephants, and the harmony between these giants and the locals.
One of the main species of the tropical forest ecosystem, the Asian elephants mainly live in Yunnan Province in southwest China. A few years ago, a wild Asian elephant herd from Xishuangbanna moved north, and eventually returned to their original habitat safely under human care. Chen and his team were among the guardians of these runaway giants.
An Asian elephant. /CFP
"Chasing these elephants is somehow beyond imagination. High temperatures and bug bites were common," Chen recalled. "There were more problems with working at night in the fields, lurking danger and psychological pressure."
"We had to keep monitoring in real time. Wild elephants sleep less at night. When they rested at around five o'clock in the morning, we rested too, but we had to get up earlier than them to prepare for the next step. This routine lasted for more than 100 days."
"Tracking Asian elephants is very dangerous. Sometimes we had to abandon the vehicles and flee away," Chen added. "Once I climbed on a roof, holding my breath for what felt like a century. Despite the thrills, it was really worthwhile."
Chen's team and other experts worked with local governments to offer these elephants the best way home by guiding them using food and setting up roadblocks with trucks, so that they could cross a bridge above the Yuanjiang River.
Now back at home, the Asian elephants are in good condition. A calf born on the way has now grown to weigh over 300 kilograms.
Migrating wild Asian elephants walk across a bridge over the Yuanjiang River near Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, southwest China, August 8, 2021. /CFP
Working in southwest China for years, Chen has learned about the local ecological philosophy. "The relationship between human and nature is imprinted in the blood of the nation. The idea passed down from generation to generation is indeed to protect the environment on which we depend for survival and prosperity," Chen said.
Chen has also visited some of the most remote, uninhabited areas in China to conduct surveys on wildlife such as the Tibetan antelope and wild yak, and carry out local biodiversity monitoring.
"What makes me feel proud and lucky is that I've personally participated in the protection of wildlife and nature reserves from a young age, and at the best of times," Chen said. "The beauty of the harmonious coexistence of life that I have witnessed inspires me to keep moving forward."
Asian elephants take a bath in a river. /CFP
By the end of 2021, the elephant population in Yunnan, the main habitat of the animal in China, had reached approximately 360 individuals, a significant increase from the less than 150 elephants recorded in 1976.
In efforts to enhance the protection of Asian elephant habitats and improve their quality, China has established 11 nature reserves spanning an area of 5,098 square kilometers in regions where the Asian elephants are distributed.
Yunnan has also launched an Asian elephant breeding and rescue center in Xishuangbanna, which has successfully rescued 30 stranded or injured wild elephants over the past 20 years.
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