Cover news reporter Liu Hu
The elephants of "North Drift" have finally returned home!
On the evening of August 8, the Provincial Headquarters for the Safety and Security Of Asian Elephants Moving North from Yunnan To the North issued a message that 14 Asian elephants moving north crossed the main stream of the Yuanjiang River safely through the Yuanjiang Bridge of the Old 213 National Highway in Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City, and returned to the south bank from the north bank of the Yuanjiang River, which is 26 kilometers away from the jurisdiction of Mojiang County in Pu'er City. Next, the command will continue to provide scientific guidance to ensure the safety of the elephant herd and help it return to its original habitat as soon as possible.
After the elephants moved north and west, they detoured south on the way, and finally, half a foot stepped into the door.
The reason for returning home to the north remains a mystery
In March 2020, 15 Asian elephants departed from Xishuangbanna. On December 17, the elephant herd stepped into Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, which had never been active before, and stayed for four months.
Subsequently, they began to travel all the way north, along Pu'er City into Yuxi City. At 21:55 on June 2 this year, the elephant herd continued to migrate northward, along the north side of Laoguangzhen Village, Chunhe Street, Hongta District, Yuxi City, and entered Shuanghe Township, Jinning District, Kunming City.
Since June 2, the Northward Movement Asian Elephant Safety and Security Work Command has dispatched drones, emergency vehicles, muck trucks, and excavators every day to persuade vehicles to return and evacuate the masses.
Under the guidance of feeding and guiding the elephants, the herd began to move south.
This group of Asian elephants, an ancient species of the elephant family, prefers warm and humid environments and is accustomed to inhabiting tropical and subtropical rainforests, mountains and bamboo forests.
But why did the elephant herd leave its habitat and head north? The reasons for this vary.
In addition to geomagnetic storms that may be the cause of elephants moving north, non-adaptation to climate change, habitat destruction, and difficulties in food sources have also become the focus of attention.
But to this day, elephants "drift north" 17 months after returning to their habitat, why they went north in the first place is still an unsolved mystery.
Why let the elephants go home, and what's the point?
According to the Provincial Headquarters for the Safety and Security Work of Asian Elephants Moving North and South of Yunnan, at 20:08 on August 8, 14 Asian elephants moved north through the Yuanjiang Bridge of The Old 213 National Highway in Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City, and returned to the south bank from the north bank of the Yuanjiang River, the nearest 26 kilometers from the jurisdiction of Mojiang County in Pu'er City. In the follow-up, the on-site command will continue to provide scientific guidance, make every effort to ensure the safety of the elephant herd, and help them return to their original habitat as soon as possible.
In the eyes of all sectors of society, Asian elephants go home to the original habitat is the most protective way to protect their populations, the number of Asian elephants in the past 30 years is decreasing, and China has always been Asian elephants mainly living in the Yunnan region, the number of wild Asian elephants has not decreased but increased, from the beginning of 150 to about 300, which shows that the original habitat may be the most suitable place for their survival.
On the other hand, in order to protect the lives and properties of the people, the elephant herds moved north to eat and drink all the way and enjoy the beautiful scenery, and the staff monitored and tracked the deployment in advance 24 hours a day, so as to reduce the contact between elephants and people and cities and villages as much as possible.
How will Asian elephant conservation work be carried out in the future?
In recent years, Yunnan Province has done a lot of work in the protection of Asian elephants, and the most important problem facing Asian elephant conservation in China (Yunnan) is human-elephant conflict.
In order to solve or alleviate various contradictions arising from human-elephant conflicts, the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee, the government, and the competent departments for wildlife (the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau and the Local Forestry and Grassland Bureau) have done a lot of work, including but not limited to: the creation and promotion of the public liability insurance system for wildlife accidents, the establishment of the Asian elephant monitoring and early warning system based on the combination of civil air defense and technical defense, the attempt and achievement of phased results in the construction of food source bases, the transformation of Asian elephant habitats, the study of Asian elephant population dynamics and behavioral ecology, etc.
Asian elephants are about to return home, how to upgrade the management and protection of the habitat Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve?
As early as August 17, 2018, the Forestry Department of Yunnan Province organized a review meeting in Kunming to review the "Master Plan of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province (2018-2027)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Master Plan").
The "Master Plan" aims to focus on the protection of ecosystems and species with particularly important functions and significance through the implementation of projects such as nature conservation, ecological restoration, scientific research monitoring, public education, sustainable development and infrastructure construction, so that the main types of natural ecosystems and their biological resources in the area can be effectively protected and managed, and the infrastructure of the protected area can be comprehensively updated and improved according to the actual situation of the protected area, and at the same time, the level of information technology modernization of the protected area is improved, and the management system of "Smart Banna Protected Area" is built. Build an intelligent nature reserve with international and domestic leading level.
In addition, in order to minimize the artificial impact on wild animals, some experts have proposed to adopt scientific persuasion and economic compensation for local people and enterprises to reduce the planting of cash crops that disrupt the ecological balance, and try to avoid affecting the lives of wild animals, so that their habitats have fewer traces of human beings and less damage.
Trajectory of the elephant herd in the 17 months after leaving home
In 2020
In March, 16 wild Asian elephants entered Pu'er City from Xishuangbanna Prefecture and headed north.
In August, the elephant herd arrived in Yixiang Town, Simao District, Pu'er City.
In September, the elephant herd entered Ning'er County from Yixiang Town, Simao District.
On November 22, a female elephant in the elephant herd gave birth to a baby elephant in Meizi Town, Ning'er County.
In December, 17 wild elephants visited Mojiang County, Pu'er City.
In 2021
On March 12, an adult elephant returned to Mohei Town, Ning'er County, from the town of Tongguan in Mojiang County.
On 28 March, another female elephant in the herd gave birth to a baby elephant.
On April 16, 17 Asian elephants migrated from Mojiang County, Pu'er City, to Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City
On April 24, two of the Asian elephants returned to Mojiang County, Pu'er City.
On May 16, 15 Asian elephants entered Baoxiu Town, Shiping County, Honghe Prefecture.
On May 29, 15 Asian elephants entered the Territory of Hongta District of Yuxi City.
On June 2, the elephant herd entered Shuanghe Township, Jinning District, Kunming City. On the 5th, enter sunset township in Jinning District.
In the early morning of 6 June, a male elephant drifted away from the group and moved 1.5 km northeast of the elephant herd.
On June 8, the elephant herd entered Shijie Township, Yimen County, Yuxi City.
On June 12, the elephant herd continued to make a small detour in Shijie Township, Yimen County, Yuxi City. Isolated for 8 days, it is located in the northeast direction of the elephant herd, and continues to move in Sunset Township, Jinning District, Kunming City, with a distance of about 16 kilometers.
On June 17, the northward elephant herd left Yimen County and entered Dalongtan Township in Asan County at 9:48 p.m.
On June 20, the elephant herd migrated 9.3 kilometers northward and re-entered the woodland near Shijie Township in Yimen. The elephant is located in the north-east direction of the elephant herd, 24.6 kilometers away from the elephant herd, and continues to move in a small area in the woodland of Shuanghe Township, Jinning District.
On June 21, the elephant herd returned from Yimen County to Asan County. The solo elephant is located in the north-east direction of the elephant herd, 30 kilometers away from the elephant herd, and continues to move in a small area of Shuanghe Township, Jinning District.
On June 25, the elephant herd entered the woodland near Tadian Town from Fuliangpeng Township, Eshan County, Yuxi City.
On July 4, the elephant herd entered Xinping County from Asan County, Yuxi City, in the early morning of July 5, and the elephants moved near Beicheng Street in Hongta District.
On July 7, the Northward Migration Asian Elephant Safety Prevention Site Headquarters in Hongta District, Yuxi City, urgently launched emergency control measures for the capture and transfer of falling single male elephants. The luodan male elephant arrived at the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Management and Conservation Bureau Mengyangzi Conservation Area.
On July 9, the elephant herd entered Honghe Shiping County from Yuxi Eshan.
On 18 July, the elephant herds moved in a generally west-northerly detour and were still active in the woodlands near the town of Longwu in Shiping County.
On July 27, the elephant herd entered the territory of Yuanjiang County from Shiping County, Honghe Prefecture, via Yangwu Town, Xinping County, Yuxi City.
On July 31, the elephant herd continued to move in the woodland near Ganzhuang Street in Yuanjiang County, Yuxi.
On August 8, the elephant herd safely crossed the main stream of the Yuanjiang River via the Yuanjiang Bridge of the Old 213 National Highway in Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City, and returned to the south bank from the north bank of the Yuanjiang River, nearest 26 kilometers from the jurisdiction of Mojiang County in Pu'er City.
<b>[If you have a news thread, please report to us, once adopted, there is a fee reward.] Newspaper WeChat attention: ihxdsb, newspaper QQ: 3386405712].</b>