China News Service, Kunming, August 12th, title: Elephant "Return to the South"

　　China News Agency reporter Hu Yuanhang

　　Crossing the Yuanjiang River and heading south, the elephant embarked on the way home.

According to the latest monitoring, at 8 o'clock on the 12th, the Asian elephant herd "broken nose family", who had "run away from home" for 17 months from the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, had arrived near Mili Township, Yuanjiang County, which was close to Pu'er, a suitable habitat. Mojiang County is only 8.5 kilometers away.

The picture shows the elephant group in the woodland.

Photo courtesy of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade

　　In order to welcome their "return", on the tenth "World Elephant Day", people held a special "welcome ceremony" in Mojiang County.

At the same time, they planned their "home" route early, prepared enough corn, bananas and other food, and there were still many monitoring personnel following them.

　　"Although the elephant herd safely crosses the Yuanjiang River, relevant safety precautions and emergency response work will continue until the elephant herd enters Mojiang County, Pu'er City, and will be transferred to Pu'er City and Xishuangbanna Prefecture for normal management." The safety precaution provincial headquarters arranged for the elephants to live after their "return to the south".

　　Like the "Xiangxiang Journey" of more than 110 days and more than 1,300 kilometers in the past, everyone will still guard them all the way.

　　In fact, since the "broken nose family" moved to the north, Yunnan Province has established a special headquarters to survey the trajectory of the elephant group 24 hours a day, eliminate dangers in a timely manner, evacuate the crowd, and ensure the safety of the elephants; discuss with experts from all parties. The solution is to ensure that the elephants have a safe and ideal destination. At the same time, in order to ensure the life of the elephants, the local government has prepared sufficient food and fed them all the way. , Some people donated their own corn to feed the elephants...

　　As of August 8, Yunnan Province has dispatched more than 25,000 police and staff, 973 drone sorties, deployed and controlled more than 15,000 emergency vehicles, evacuated more than 150,000 people, and delivered nearly 180 tons of elephant food to ensure All the elephants returned south safely, causing no casualties or casualties along the way.

　　At 8:8 on the evening of August 8, the elephant group smoothly passed the biggest obstacle to the "south return"-the main stream of the Yuanjiang River, which is a vivid epitome of countless people escorting the elephant group day and night.

That night, the elephant group slowly walked over the Yuanjiang Old Bridge on the old National Highway 213. No one was paying attention at the scene, but there were countless pairs of eyes concentrating and holding their breath behind the monitor screen.

　　“Before in May, the elephant group was in a dry period when it crossed the main stream of the Yuanjiang River in the north. Now with the arrival of the rainy season, the water flow has increased sharply, which created an insurmountable obstacle for the elephant group to return to the south.” Yang Yingyong, deputy secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Yuxi Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, recalled Said that in order to find a suitable crossing point, the staff walked through the 76 kilometers of Yuanjiang River in Yuanjiang County.

During the relocation process, the elephant herd had deviated from the expected route countless times. A total of 2,844 vehicles and 6,673 man-times were invested in the local area. After 13 days and 12 nights, the elephants finally guided the elephants to cross the Yuanjiang smoothly.

　　In this way, the Asian elephant herd that moved north finally reached the "door of home" safely.

Today, they continue to be active on the south bank of the Yuanjiang River, “eat”, play, and rest during the day, drive on their way at night, and continue to the south.

　　In order to welcome them, people are still planning a "bigger home".

　　Wan Yong, commander of the provincial headquarters for the safety and precaution of Asian elephants moving north, and director of the Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, revealed that at present, the country has put the construction of a national park with Asian elephants as the main protection object on the agenda.

In the next step, Yunnan Province will accelerate the creation of the Asian Elephant National Park, focus on strengthening the construction of Asian elephant habitats, further strengthen the construction of monitoring and early warning, safety precautions and emergency response systems, and go all out to promote the harmony of human elephants.

　　"Wish our common homeland get better and better!" In the welcome event for the return of elephants held in Mojiang, a child read aloud "A Letter to Mankind" in an elephant tone.

This is the voice of elephants, but it is also the voice of human beings.

(Finish)