China News Service, Kunming, June 17th, at 10 o'clock on the 17th, after attending the dispatch meeting of the Yuxi Northward Asian Elephant Group's safety precaution and emergency work frontline headquarters, Shen Qingzhong, a senior engineer from the Management and Protection Bureau of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan, went to the early morning elephants Check on the spot in the group way.
The purpose of this trip is to collect elephant feces samples.
The picture shows experts picking up elephant dung.
Provided by the provincial headquarters of Asian elephant safety precautions for the northward movement of Yunnan
Walking at the foot of Dianmo Mountain where the elephants are sleeping, I can hardly hear other sounds except for the calls I know, and I can't feel a group of behemoths standing 200 meters away in a straight line.
"Because the nearby mountains are steep, the elephant chose the repaired road when going up the mountain." Shen Qingzhong said while walking on the dirt road leading to the top of the mountain.
Corn stalks and leaves that elephants had eaten were scattered on the road, and elephant dung appeared every distance.
These things that are easily overlooked by ordinary people are all treasures in Shen Qingzhong's eyes.
The picture shows experts picking up elephant dung.
Provided by the provincial headquarters of Asian elephant safety precautions for the northward movement of Yunnan
"Elephants eat a lot and have a lot of manure. They have to be pulled several times a day." Shen Qingzhong said, because elephants have weak digestive capabilities, there will be a lot of semi-digested food in their feces.
Experts collect elephant feces every few days for three purposes: one is to judge the health of the elephant herd through the feces, the other is to check the food composition of the elephant herd, and the third is to determine the heredity between the elephant herd through fecal tests. relationship.
According to reports, in the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration established in December 2019, experts are using the collected feces of the Asian elephant population to move north, and are doing metagenomic sequencing and microbial cultivation research, with a view to protecting and managing wild elephants. Provide data support.
Along the way, Shen Qingzhong carefully checked every pile of elephant dung he encountered: "Look, this elephant ate a lot of crude fiber yesterday, and it may even ate bark." "Elephant dung is not smelly, but recently they ate it. There’s more corn, so it’s a bit smelly."
According to Shen Qingzhong, from the preliminary judgment of the appearance of the feces, the elephant group is in good health despite the long journey.
"This journey of elephants is not easy, spanning different climatic environments and ecological environments. Their strong adaptability provides a new reference for Asian elephant research." Shen Qingzhong said.
After sampling and packaging each pile of feces encountered, Shen Qingzhong also got closer and closer to where the elephants rested.
The stuck staff came to intervene, and he could only end his work.
"It's a pity that no baby elephant feces were collected today." Shen Qingzhong said.
(Finish)