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Long lines of trucks they clogged the roads of the south west china To try block the passage of 15 wild elephants They wreaked havoc on the outskirts of a city of eight million people.

The animals moved 500 kilometers north of their natural habitat, Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, and caused damage to rural communities near the provincial capital, Kumming.

State television CCTV on Sunday showed a long line of trucks parked along a small country road, with lush green foliage on either side, in an attempt to keep the herd away from densely populated areas.

“We are here to block the elephants”a trucker told CCTV. “The traffic police said they need the trucks. As long as they need me, I’ll be there.”

The authorities have also mobilized hundreds of people to follow their movements with drones and infrared cameras.

Chinese TV showed carefree elephants roaming the residents’ yards and orchards over the weekend, leaving in its wake crushed trees and dented garage doors. “The herd roamed the city all day,” a nervous resident told CCTV. “We went out and saw an elephant about three meters high. It scared us a lot,” he said.

Since mid-April, animals destroyed some 56 hectares of crops, causing estimated losses in 6.8 million yuan ($ 1.07 million), according to the state network. It is not known why they left their natural habitat.

Internet users, overwhelmed by his departure, have widely speculated on the possible causes. A user of the Weibo platform, similar to Twitter, posted a screenshot of several news articles about the destruction of the rainforest in its habitat.

The wild elephant population in southwest Yunnan is around 300, up from 193 in the 1980s, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Reports of individuals entering villages and damaging crops have increased in recent years as the plants they usually eat are gradually replaced by inedible varieties as the forests expand, local authorities said.