A male elephant separated from a herd of Asian elephants that has been roaming southwest China for more than a year has been drugged and returned to the wildlife sanctuary where the group lives. This reports to the command center that monitors the animals.
The lone elephant bull was captured near Yuxi town on Wednesday and taken to Xishuangbana National Nature Reserve, about 485 kilometers to the south. The Yunnan provincial government stated on social media that he appeared to be in good health and did not suffer any injuries. The male had been wandering alone for 32 days, according to the command post, and had no intention of joining the herd.
“He relied heavily on food we gave him or found in and around residents’ homes and has been living in a rural area near a major highway and railroad since Monday,” the command center said in a statement. Safety and control of migratory elephants. The activities of the elephants in a densely populated area have alarmed local authorities. They decided to return the elephant to the reserve to reduce the risks to public safety.
The remaining 14 elephants have recently returned to the south, but are still far from the sanctuary from which they fled in March last year. More than 200 people, dozens of emergency vehicles and 20 drones have been deployed to monitor the herd, according to the command center. Since mid-April last year, they have destroyed about 56 hectares of crops with losses estimated at 6.8 million yuan (more than 888,000 euros), according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV. The herd is said to be responsible for at least 412 claims.
We went out and saw an elephant about three meters high. We thought it was scary
The path of destruction
It is still not clear why the animals left their nature reserve in Yunnan Province. Their journey is closely followed on Chinese social media and there is also a lot of speculation as to why the elephants travel. Elephants wreaked havoc in Kunming last month and already wreaked havoc on small communities. There they passed people’s gardens and knocked on trees. “The herd was walking around the village all day,” said one nervous villager. “We went out and saw an elephant about three meters high. We thought it was terrifying.”
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