With the restoration of the ecological environment, the society's awareness and protection of wild Asian elephants have been continuously improved, and the number of wild Asian elephants has increased year by year. By the end of 2021, the population of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan was about 360, an increase of more than 60 heads from 293 in the 2018 survey. Pu'er is one of the important livable places for wild Asian elephants, more than half of the country's wild Asian elephants inhabit here all year round, and is an ecological home for "elephants" on the Tropic of Cancer.
▲Photo by Wang Chengji
A green home that makes people "like" to go
Empty mountains and new rain, grain fragrance. Recently, when the reporter came to Kangping Town, Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Jiangcheng, in the distance, he saw a group of wild Asian elephants "strolling and eating" in the corn field on the other side of the river.
"The latest monitoring data shows that there are about 9 populations of wild Asian elephants living in Pu'er City this year, with about 127 heads." Zhou Zhitao, chief of the Wildlife Conservation and Wetland Management Section of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Pu'er City, said that after the maturity of corn and other crops in July and August every year, wild Asian elephants from neighboring states (cities) will gradually migrate to the direction of Pu'er for food, and will not leave until February and March of the following year.
▲Provided by Pu'er Forestry and Grassland Bureau
Coincidentally, in April 2021, during a group of wild Asian elephants on a "northbound to southbound" trip, Pu'er was a very important stop on the journey, and the elephant herd not only stayed for a long time, but also welcomed the birth of a new Asian baby elephant.
Why can Pu'er become a place where "elephants" go?
The answer is probably hidden in the vast mountains and rivers of Pu'er's 45,000 square kilometers. Pu'er contains the most ecologically preserved and biologically rich oasis on the Tropic of Cancer, where nearly one-third of the country's species thrive, and has been called "the paradise of the world, the paradise of the world" by the United Nations Environment Programme. The forest coverage rate here is 74.59%, the average annual temperature is 18.9 degrees Celsius, the negative oxygen ion content in the urban air is more than 14 times the "clean air" standard stipulated by the World Health Organization, and the excellent rate of ambient air is maintained at more than 96% all year round... The comfortable environment makes Pu'er worthy of the "elephant" to the place.
A harmonious home that makes people "like" to go
With the increase in the number of wild Asian elephants, in order to effectively prevent human-elephant conflicts, Pu'er has made many attempts and explorations in exploring the mechanism of human-elephant coexistence.
▲Photo by Guo Chunxiang
Simao District Yixiang Town, as the name suggests, "the place where elephants live", here are dozens of wild Asian elephants perennial, people and elephants are neighbors, frequent exchanges, but this "big neighbor" occasionally "naughty", often let the people living in this land "favored" frightened.
Najib Village, Najib Islet is hidden in the jungle southeast of Yixiang Town, and there are often more than 40 wild Asian elephants around. In order to protect the safety of teachers and students and avoid human-elephant conflicts, the higher government contributed 140,000 yuan to help the school build a guardrail against wild elephants and raise the fence. More than ten kilometers away from Najib, Bengnong Village Bengnong Primary School is located in a mountain pass, and a small rural cement road is the main road leading to the school entrance. When I came to the school gate, I saw that there was a horse-resistant anti-collision guardrail more than 1 meter high outside the school gate, and the guardrail could be cut to both sides through the slide rails on the ground, and the metal railings more than 2 meters high were also erected on both sides of the wall. The relevant person in charge of the two schools told reporters: "After the protective facilities were built, the elephants never came in again, adding a guarantee to the safety of teachers and students." ”
▲ Provided by Pu'er City Forest Fire Brigade
As an important habitat for wild Asian elephants, Pu'er City has also made every effort to promote habitat transformation, opened an "elephant canteen", planned to build a food source base of 10,000 mu, and has planted more than 4,000 mu; Comprehensively strengthen monitoring research and law analysis, increase conservation efforts, establish more than 100 monitoring teams, form 20 professional elephant protection teams, and actively carry out research on the activities and living habits of wild Asian elephants; Implement wildlife public liability insurance to effectively safeguard the basic interests of the injured; Fully promote the construction of wild Asian elephant national parks and biodiversity pavilions, organize and carry out the activities of "entering units, schools, communities, and villages" for the protection of wild Asian elephants, widely publicize the knowledge of biodiversity conservation, so that the concept of ecological civilization can continue to penetrate the hearts of the people, and comprehensively build a harmonious and happy home for people and elephants.
(Source: Pu'er Release)