The only remaining wild elephant herd in China, the only forest in the Yunnan tropical rainforest with wild elephants. The tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, is the only habitat for wild elephant populations in Asia. The Asian elephant is the largest extant terrestrial animal in Asia, with adult male elephants with tusks up to more than 1 meter long. There are only more than 300 wild elephants in China, which is a national first-class protected animal.
Once Asian elephants were distributed on both sides of the Yangtze River and even along the Yellow River Basin, with the change of climate and environment, the elephant herds migrated southward year by year. Archaeology has found that in the long history of more than 7,000 years, the distribution of Asian elephants extends from the Hebei region in the north to the Shanghai area in the east, and Yunnan has been the habitat of Asian elephants since ancient times.
Today, the Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan is the only habitat for Asian wild elephants in China. Xishuangbanna's Wild Elephant Valley tropical rainforest, dense jungle, a wide variety of animal vegetation, wild elephants frequently infested, is the best place for humans to observe the trail of wild elephants.
Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley is located in Jinghong National Nature Reserve Mengyangzi Conservation Area, which is the first national park in China to focus on animal and environmental protection. Without affecting the living environment of wild elephants, sightseeing facilities such as the Elephant Trail, the Rainforest Sightseeing Pier, the Asian Elephant Museum and the Jungle Ropeway have been built in the natural park. Visitors entering the rainforest can observe wild Asian wild elephants up close.
Wild elephants in Asia are uncertain, and it is not necessary to see wild elephants when you come to the Wild Elephant Valley. Winter is the best time to observe wild elephants. The temperature is comfortable at this time, not only tourists like to come here for winter, but also the wild elephant herds like the climate here. Wild elephants have been seen here almost every day since December.
Enter the Wild Elephant Valley Forest Park and walk more than 2 kilometers along the boardwalk, along the way to a lush tropical rainforest with abundant trees and flowers and diverse wildlife. If you're lucky, you'll see the endangered white-cheeked gibbon.
Coming to the depths of the jungle, when wild elephants are infested, they come to the stream in groups to drink water and play. More than 40 wild elephants, which are often found in the Wild Elephant Valley, come from four major families, and the jungle protectors have given them all names. The Ranran family, the small earless family, the large earless family and the big earless bag family, each elephant member has its own name, such as the star wild elephant large row of teeth, bamboo shoot teeth. The four families have also added 6 new baby elephants, and the cute baby elephants are inseparable from the mother elephant.
If you want to get close to elephants, there are rainforest herding, jungle trekking and elephant school performances in the park.
Tips: Snake Lizard Garden, Butterfly Garden, Orchid Garden, Rainforest Herding, Sightseeing Ropeway, Elephant Walk, Asian Elephant Museum, Aerial Elephant Trail.
Tickets: 60 yuan Rainforest herding elephants, elephant riding separately
Transportation: Zhizhuang - Wild Elephant Valley through train 35 yuan one way
Bus Terminal - Wild Elephant Valley 22 yuan one way
Tips: Best time to observe wild elephants during the Winter Festival
Elephant School show time 10:30 16:30