China: After a journey of 500 kilometers in 17 months, the herd of stray elephants returns “home”

After an epic 17 month journey, China’s famous herd of stray elephants finally seems to be returning home. Animals They were guided through the Yuanjiang River in Yunnan Sunday evening and a path has been marked out for them to return to the nature reserve in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.

The return of the 14 elephants completes an odyssey of more than 500 kilometers, What started in March 2020 When 16 elephants left the nature reserve of Yunnan province (southwest China) to move to the north of the country, Yes he captivated the whole world.

The Highlights of his trip included the birth of a calf in Pu’er Town, Mojiang County, in November of last year and damage of more than 6.8 million yuan, according to estimates by state broadcaster CGTN

But perhaps the most striking was a nap in the woods gone viral. In June, drone footage showed the herd sleeping in a forest outside a village in Xiyang County. When they started to move again more than 410 rescuers, 374 vehicles and 14 drones were deployed with more than two tons of food for the elephants.

Local wildlife experts could not determine the reason the herd decided to move. But Zhang Li, professor of mammal conservation at Peking Normal University, told the World time declare in june that “Large-scale human engineering developments have exacerbated the ‘island’ of elephant habitats.”

This meant that “the traditional buffer zones between humans and elephants are gradually disappearing, and the chances of animals encountering humans naturally increase dramatically,” he said.

The behavior of stray elephants has not been welcomed by everyone, and some locals complained that whole fields of corn and trucks full of pineapples had been eaten. While an Eshan County car dealership reported that six visiting elephants had drunk two tons of water in their store.

Asian elephants are among the most protected animals in China, and their population has grown to around 300, despite their habitat being reduced by urban and agricultural expansion.