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250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

author:The Paper

The Paper's reporter Qian Chengxi

Recently, Malawi's Leonde National Park is embarking on a special operation to relocate 250 elephants from the park to Kasonggu National Park in the middle of the country. The transfer, which began on 27 June and will last for a month, is scheduled to be completed by 29 July, with the aim of reducing pressure on existing habitats and reducing human-elephant conflict.

Organised by the Malawi Ministry of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), African Parks and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the 250 elephants are being transported by road for a distance of about 350 kilometres.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

Leondy National Park is home to many wildlife

How do behemoths move?

An adult elephant weighs about six tons, and the key to making it move is that humans put it down in 4 minutes.

The elephant relocation team needs to leave very early every day to search for the herd by helicopter. Once a herd of elephants is spotted, they radio inform other groups on the ground to put them on standby while the elephants are anesthetized from the air.

After that, the team would fire an anesthetic guns at elephants from the air, an anesthetic drug, a synthetic opioid that was ten thousand times more potent than morphine and could kill a person in a matter of seconds. However, this potion takes about four minutes to bring down an elephant, during which time the elephant can still move.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

Helicopters are responsible for finding elephants

Ground personnel are responsible for protecting the elephant on the ground, making sure the elephant doesn't fall into the water, crash into a tree, or lie on the ground — a position that can crush its lungs.

After four minutes, the elephants will stop running, and they will fall to the ground at almost the same time. After an elephant is completely unconscious and lying down in a safe position, the crew will rush over, first propped open its mouth with a branch to keep the airway open, and turn the ear down to cover the eyes so that the eyes are not burned by the sun.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

Staff checking the elephant's physical condition

They would then put on tracking collars and tie their legs, and a special crane would hoist them into boxes, where they would be injected with an antidote to wake them up from anesthesia. For the remainder of the 12-hour journey, the elephant will remain awake, although the previously injected medication will also act as a sedative.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

A crane hoisted the elephant into a box

Why do elephants move?

In fact, as early as 2016, elephants in Leondy National Park moved once, which is also the largest elephant migration in history. At the time, the DNPW, with the help of Africa Park, relocated 520 elephants to the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve in central Malawi, where an elephant sanctuary was being established. Of these elephants, 366 are from Leonde National Park, also due to the large number of local elephants.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

Prince Harry of The United Kingdom also took part in the operation at the time, showing him marking an elephant

As poaching has been drastically reduced in Leondy National Park, the local elephant population has been increasing, exacerbating the human-elephant conflict. Elephants destroy farmland, villages, and kill livestock. Many of the elephants that migrated out of Leondai have bullet holes in their ears left by locals.

But from the perspective of Malawi as a whole, the situation of elephants is not optimistic. A 2015 survey showed that there were about 2,000 elephants in Malawi, down 50 percent from the 1980s, and poaching is still rampant in other parts of Malawi. For example, in Karagu National Park, where elephants will be relocated this time, there were only 50 elephants in 2015, far less than the 1,200 elephants in the 1970s.

Thanks to the efforts of the local government and animal protection groups, there are currently 120 elephants in Kasuncour National Park, but there are still too few to sustain the population. IfAW said adding 250 elephants will ensure the survival of the population within the reserve, better perpetuating the elephant population in Kasongu National Park.

In addition, Patricio Ndadzela, a senior official at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said that the new arrival of elephants will help Kasuncourt attract more tourists. In addition to elephants, there are other wildlife, including buffalo, impala, sables, warthogs, and will also be transferred from Leondai National Park to Kasungu.

However, the elephant population has suddenly tripled, much to the dismay of the Kasungu locals. A local farmer, Mary Banda, told the media that the increase in elephants would lead to food shortages for villagers. "I live on the food I grow. In the past, elephants have destroyed my crops and left me with nothing to eat. ”

In response, Brighton Kumchedwa, director of the Malawi National Parks and Wildlife Service, said the government had built a 40-kilometer-long fence in Kasungu National Park to prevent elephants from entering the village, thus dispelling fears among locals.

250 elephants in Malawi moved: Why move? How to move?

Elephants are barricaded outside a solar-powered fence

"If properly maintained, it's an effective barrier," he said. ”

The elephants also wear collars for real-time monitoring, while the national park has prepared ground and air action teams to protect local villages.

Editor-in-Charge: Ying Xu

Proofreader: Luan Meng

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