Do you remember the group of wild elephants that went north and returned south two years ago? Here is the latest news

Do you still remember the group of wild elephants that traveled north and south and attracted global attention?

In Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, the wild elephants' hometown, the reporter recently caught up with the latest news about this herd: After returning to the south, the "short-nosed family" wild elephants are in good health, the baby elephants have obviously gained weight, the herd absorbed new members, and then split into two, with the two groups active in different areas.

Experts said that wild elephants are typical social animals, and the "separation of wild elephants" is proof of the healthy reproduction of the herd. Against the backdrop of a global decline in the number of Asian elephants, China's wild elephants are experiencing a "baby boom", with elephant herds growing and dividing, becoming a landmark achievement in my country's ecological civilization construction and biodiversity conservation.

The baby elephants have grown fatter and the herd has split up

On May 9, near dusk, in Dahuangba Village, Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Peng Jinfu raised his telescope from time to time to observe the mountains and forests in the distance. He estimated: "The elephants should be coming down the mountain at this time."

As expected, after a while, more than 20 "giants" slowly walked out of the woods, leisurely wagging their ears and tails, and came to a watermelon field to "feast".

"Elephants usually come out to look for food around 5pm and return to the forest around 8 or 9am," said Peng Jinfu, as he operated a drone to approach the elephants and take photos and videos. His apprentice Pu Yongbing opened the WeChat group and sent out a warning message, reminding villagers not to get close.

Peng Jinfu and Pu Yongbing are both Asian elephant monitors, responsible for monitoring the elephant herd in the Dadugang area. They use road monitoring, aerial monitoring, thermal imaging monitoring and other methods to track the elephant herd, provide early warnings to nearby villagers, and provide monitoring data for scientific research.

After the elephants had a full meal, it was time to play. They went to a fish pond, and several wild elephants slid into the pond to "bathe", rolling in the water, scaring the fish to jump out of the water. On the shore, some wild elephants kicked the buckets for fun, and some fought over the water pipes as toys...

A wild elephant "bathes" in a fish pond in Dahuangba Village, Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province (taken on May 9, drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao

Peng Jinfu has been tracking and monitoring wild elephants for a long time, and he can identify these "old friends" based on their body shape, nose, ears and other characteristics. He introduced that most of these wild elephants belong to the "Ran Ran family", and 7 of them are from the "Short Nose Family" that went north and returned south, including 4 adult female elephants, 1 sub-adult male elephant and 2 baby elephants. "The baby elephants are much fatter than when they first came back."

Two baby elephants play in Dahuangba Village, Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province (photo taken on May 9, drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao

In 2021, the 15 wild elephants of the "Short-nosed Family" attracted widespread attention from around the world with a rare long-distance journey. The herd of elephants took more than 110 days and traveled more than 1,300 kilometers, and finally returned safely to their original starting point under the escort of people.

Zhou Chenhao, director of the monitoring room of the Xishuangbanna Asian Elephant Conservation and Management Center, said that since returning to their original habitat on December 9, 2021, the "Short-nosed Family" has been active in and around the Mengyang area of ​​the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. "In winter and spring, they mainly move around the Wild Elephant Valley; in summer and autumn, they go to villages on the edge of the forest to forage for food."

Continuous monitoring found that the "Short-nosed Family" sometimes has individuals leaving or returning to the group, and sometimes absorbs new members. In June 2022, the "Short-nosed Family" was divided into two groups, active in different areas. At present, the "Short-nosed Family" has expanded to 20 elephants, of which 13 are active in the Puwen area, and 7 are active in the Dadugang area with the 23 wild elephants of the "Ranran Family".

Wild elephants from the "Short Nose Family" and the "Ran Ran Family" forage for food in Dahuangba Village, Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province (photo taken on May 9, drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao

"Compared with other elephant groups, the 'Short-nosed Family' are not very afraid of people," said Niu Jiancheng, an Asian elephant monitor in the Puwen area. "Maybe they are 'well-informed' and know that humans will not hurt them. They are also very friendly to humans and have not hurt anyone since they came back."

"The 'short-nosed family' tried to go north several times, but we 'persuaded them to return' by blocking the road with trucks and feeding them," said Niu Jiancheng. Relevant departments conducted a detailed survey of suitable habitats for Asian elephants, and scientifically delineated a safety line for Asian elephants based on village conditions and agricultural activities, and adopted a flexible guidance strategy to prevent the disorderly spread of elephants.

Elephant herds experience a "baby boom"

The Asian elephant is the largest extant terrestrial animal in Asia and a flagship species of tropical forests. It is listed as a national first-class protected wild animal in my country and is assessed as an "endangered" species by the World Conservation Union. my country's wild elephants are mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan.

Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, introduced that Asian elephants are typical social animals with a relatively complex social structure, which can be divided into four levels: family, clan, clan and subpopulation. The family consists of adult female elephants and their children; the family consists of two or more sister female elephants and their children, which is what people often call an elephant herd; multiple families may gather in a short period of time to form a clan; and the subpopulation refers to the sum of all clans in the same area.

"A family usually consists of 8 to 15 wild elephants. The oldest female elephant serves as the leader of the family, guiding the herd to migrate, forage and rest." Chen Fei said that when the population grows to a certain size, sisters or mothers and daughters with close blood ties will take their children to form new families and look for new habitats, so the elephant herds will split up.

"It is normal for wild elephants to separate and reunite, which is to ensure the survival and reproduction of individuals and groups." Chen Fei said that Asian elephants are large in size and need a lot of food and water every day, so they have to migrate constantly to find food, water sources and salt ponds to replenish salt. In this process, a family may reunite with other families and then separate again.

It is reported that the gene exchange between wild elephant families is completed by adult male elephants. When male individuals reach adulthood, they will leave their native elephant group. This is the natural mechanism for Asian elephants to avoid inbreeding and complete gene exchange. After leaving the group, several male elephants form temporary groups or act alone, and then join other elephant groups to complete gene exchange after the estrus period.

The "separation of wild elephants" reflects the healthy reproduction of wild elephants in my country. In 1976, there were less than 150 wild elephants in Yunnan. In 2018, simultaneous monitoring found that there were about 293 wild elephants in Yunnan. By the end of 2021, the number of wild elephants in Yunnan had increased to about 360.

In 2021, the "Short-nosed Family" gave birth to two baby elephants on their way north; in early 2022, four elephant herds active in the Wild Elephant Valley gave birth to six baby elephants, and the elephant herd active in Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City, added four new baby elephants... Frontline monitors reported that in recent years, almost every herd of wild Asian elephants active in Xishuangbanna and Pu'er has given birth to baby elephants every year.
Wan Yong, director of the Yunnan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, said: "Against the general trend of a global decline in the number of Asian elephants, the population of Asian elephants in Yunnan is entering a period of rapid growth, and a 'baby boom' has occurred in the elephant population."

Promote harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants

"For Asian elephants, there is no country safer than China." Ahomusa, a Spanish scientist and researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, commented that China has formulated very good policies for the protection of Asian elephants, and the results are remarkable.

In the distribution area of ​​Asian elephants, my country has established 11 nature reserves covering an area of ​​5,098 square kilometers, and has continuously strengthened habitat protection and improved habitat quality. Yunnan has also established the Xishuangbanna Asian Elephant Rescue and Breeding Center, which has rescued 30 trapped and injured wild elephants in the past 20 years and has accumulated rich experience in rescuing Asian elephants in the wild and caring for abandoned baby elephants.

In the area where wild elephants are active, villagers are kind and tolerant of them, even though they may destroy crops. 44-year-old Wang Chuan lives in Mankelao Village, Kangping Town, Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City. Currently, there are two groups of 12 wild elephants active around the village. "When villagers see wild elephants coming, they stay far away and do not disturb them, and there is no case of driving away wild elephants," said Wang Chuan.

If wild elephants cause an accident, the insurance purchased by the government will pay compensation. Wan Yong introduced: "Yunnan will gradually increase the compensation standard for crops that Asian elephants like to eat and that have a large area of ​​damage, gradually changing the passive situation where people in mountainous areas abandon their crops, elephants move in and people retreat, and people in dam areas rush to harvest and drive out elephants, protect the interests of the people, stabilize the food source of wild elephants, and properly handle the conflict between people and elephants."

Yunnan also built a "canteen" for wild elephants, restored and renovated more than 9,000 mu of food sources for Asian elephants, and planted elephant grass, sweet bamboo, zongzi reed and other plants that elephants love to eat. At the same time, it strengthened the construction of monitoring and early warning, safety prevention and emergency response systems to avoid conflicts between humans and elephants to the greatest extent.

This is a view of the Elephant Canteen in Dadugang Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province (taken on May 9, drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao

In addition, Yunnan Province has established an Asian elephant protection expert committee to coordinate the investigation and monitoring of Asian elephants and their habitats, population structure and genetic characteristics, human-elephant conflict mechanisms, environmental carrying capacity, habitat restoration and food source transformation. In the construction of new infrastructure, full consideration is given to the migration corridors of Asian elephants to avoid poor communication between their populations. Local governments on the border between China and Laos have established a cross-border protection mechanism for Asian elephants and carried out cross-border protection cooperation...

The establishment of the Asian Elephant National Park is progressing in an orderly manner. Wan Yong introduced that the Asian Elephant National Park will focus on the protection of Asian elephants and tropical rainforests, follow the principles of "reasonable layout, moderate scale, reduced population and environmental friendliness", plan the habitat space for Asian elephants, implement protection and management, and promote the sustainable economic and social development of the Asian elephant distribution area.

Chen Fei said: "We want to achieve a harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants."