Xinhua Media+｜Where is the elephant group?
Where is the way forward?
——Tracking the northward migration of wild elephants in Yunnan
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 10 -
Question: where were the elephants?
Where is the way forward?
——Tracking the northward migration of wild elephants in Yunnan
Xinhua News Agency reporters Hu Lu and Zhao Peiran
In the past two months, a rare long-distance migration of wild Asian elephants has attracted widespread attention at home and abroad, and the "viewing of the whole people" has been unprecedented.
Asian elephants are the largest and most representative terrestrial vertebrates in Asia. They are mainly distributed in the three prefectures of Pu'er, Xishuangbanna and Lincang in Yunnan.
Why did this group of "land giants" suddenly choose to migrate and travel far?
Where are they now, and how do people get along with them?
In the next step, how will we house this herd of elephants?
The reporter interviewed government departments, experts and the masses to discuss this together.
Migrate nearly 500 kilometers, spanning half of Yunnan Province
The reporter learned from the provincial headquarters for the safety and precaution of the Asian elephant herd moved north from Yunnan that the elephant herd moved northward from its "home" Xishuangbanna, moving nearly 500 kilometers, almost spanning half of Yunnan Province.
As of 17:00 on June 9, the elephant group was active in Shijie Township, Yimen County, Yuxi City.
The single elephant was out of the group for 4 days. It entered Kunming Anning City at 18:30 on June 8 and was active in the dense forest southwest of Eight Street Street, about 12 kilometers away from the elephant group. The elephants were safe.
"Whether it is an Asian elephant or an African elephant, migration and proliferation help to find new foraging sites and resources, carry out gene flow between populations, and survive in a constantly changing environment." Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grass Administration Chen Fei explained.
He said that this group of Asian elephants came from the Asian elephant distribution area centered on the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve-Mengyang area, which is an important zone connecting the Banna-Pu'er Asian elephant population.
"Records show that the number of Asian elephant populations that are active in this area has been increasing." Chen Fei said that as the number of Asian elephants continues to grow, the elephant population has left its original habitat and expanded outward.
Because it is more convenient and delicious to eat sugarcane, corn and other crops, and people's awareness of protection continues to increase, the elephant herd is not threatened by the outside world, and they have been wandering in the forest and farmland.
Keep an eye on the elephant, manage the people well, and settle the claims well, and "escort" the road to the north
This "long journey" of the Asian elephants is a window that reflects our continuous exploration on the way to live with wild animals.
The central government and various parts of Yunnan have adopted various measures to ensure the safety of human elephants.
Including continuous real-time tracking of the object group with drones, emergency personnel set up food feeding areas for the elephant group including bananas, corn, pineapple, etc. along the way to prevent the elephant group from entering densely populated areas, and set up defense lines and routes to guide the elephant group away from the crowd. Enter the sparsely populated forest area and so on.
The local area also provided early warning and evacuation of the people when the elephant herd approached the population gathering place.
Chen Fei said that as of now, no one has been injured in the area where the elephant group has passed, and the affected residents whose homes were destroyed by the elephant group will also receive corresponding compensation.
Along the way, people have given great care and love to the elephants.
"My grandfather and dad never saw wild elephants in their generation. I only saw them on TV before. Everyone was very excited to hear that the elephants were approaching our village." 49-year-old Xiyang, Jinning District, Kunming City Tang Zhengfang, a villager in Gaoliangdi Village, Yi Nationality Township, said that he was worried that the elephants would not have enough to eat, so he took the initiative to contact the township government to donate his own corn to help feed the elephants.
The headquarters also specially arranged experts to inspect the corn in his house, and after confirming that it was suitable for elephants, the corn was taken away and fed.
"I hope the elephants will eat and drink all the way and go home safely." He said sincerely.
From 10 pm on June 2 to 10, He Guoyong, the driver of the muck truck of Kunming Hengzheng Environmental Sanitation Service Co., Ltd., together with other convoys, constantly moved locations under the arrangement of the headquarters, and went to some intersections to enter the village to carry out manual enclosures. Set up barriers to prevent elephant groups from entering villages and towns.
"It's been a week. Our team ate and slept in the car, but everyone didn't complain. Our work has avoided the frontal conflict between humans and elephants." He Guoyong said.
Go all out to ensure the safety of human figures
Will the elephants continue to move north?
"Because the elephant herd moves far north, it is more difficult to return to its original habitat on its own. It is unpredictable how long it will continue to wander. It may require a long-term war of attrition. However, if the elephant herd continues to move north, the risk of human elephants will increase." Xie Yi, a professor at Beijing Forestry University, said.
He explained that these areas or the areas that continue to move northward are not suitable habitats. Once the temperature becomes cold or extreme changes, it may endanger the safety of the population, especially the ability of the three young elephants in the elephant group to resist these changes. Not strong, its survival is worrying.
Due to the small number of individuals in this ethnic group, if they continue to move north and do not return to their original habitat, they will cut off gene exchange with other elephant populations. Problems such as inbreeding and single structure are likely to cause the ethnic group to gradually degenerate or even disappear.
Wherever the elephant herd goes, it is necessary to mobilize the public security, firefighting and other forces, but also to strengthen the public’s awareness of safety and precautions to avoid the elephant herd to avoid casualties.
The long-term wandering of elephants also has a greater impact on the normal production and life of the masses.
Xie Yi said that in order to avoid the extinction of small family populations, the international community usually adopts man-made control measures such as enclosures and transfers of live catches to send them back to their habitats to re-establish contact with other populations, strengthen gene exchanges, optimize population structure, and increase species genetic diversity. Sex.
At the same time, we should continue to organize forces for the proliferation of ethnic groups, do a good job in monitoring and early warning of the wandering areas of elephants, and public safety precautions, so as to effectively safeguard the lives of the people.
Wan Yong, the commander of the provincial headquarters for the safety and precaution of the Asian elephants in Yunnan’s northward migration, said: “We will continue to closely monitor the movements of the elephants and study appropriate measures based on the trends of the elephants. It is always the most important thing to make every effort to ensure the safety of elephants the goal."