The wandering wild Asian elephant herd that has caught global attention has headed a little further west after taking a good rest in the outskirts of the south-western Chinese city of Kunming.
The herd of 14 elephants entered Shijie Township in the city of Yuxi at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.
They were seen taking a rest in Yuxi at about 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the headquarters in charge of monitoring their migration.
A male elephant, which broken free from the herd, was now about 12 km away in a forest in Anning, a county-level city under Kunming administration. All the elephants were safe and sound.
The herd travelled approximately 500 km from their forest home in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture before reaching Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, late last Wednesday.
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 under A-level state protection in China, where they are mostly found in Yunnan.
Thanks to enhanced protection efforts, the wild elephant population in the province had grown to about 300, up from 193 in the 1980s.
A herd of wandering Asian elephants which has achieved fame in China has been spotted taking a nap in a forest.
The herd was seen resting near a village in Xiyang township after heavy rain slowed down its travels.
The animals have been trekking the country for about 15 months in an extraordinary 500km (300-mile) trip away from their natural habitat.
Authorities are closely monitoring their migration as the elephants roam through fields, villages, and cities.
The local government has deployed 14 drones and some 500 people to keep the herd safe, close roads, and try to steer the elephants to the southwest, CGTN reported.
Previous efforts to turn them around have failed, but the herd seems to be turning back and heading home, probably to the Mengyangzi Nature Reserve in Xishuangbanna, in south-west Yunnan province.
There are 15 elephants in the herd, including three calves. One male has broken free and is currently about 4km away from the rest of the group, according to the Yunnan Forest Firefighting Brigade which is in charge of monitoring them.
(Xinhua/NAN)
