(East-West Questions) Exclusive|Chen Fei: How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?
China News Service, Kunming, June 13th, title: How to treat the Chinese sample of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?
Author Chen Fei (Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration of China)
Chen Fei.
Photo courtesy of me
Recently, a group of wild Asian elephants migrated northward from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan to Kunming, which has attracted the attention of the global media.
"Where are the elephants going" has become a series that the whole world is chasing. Both the East and the West cast gentle eyes on these simple and cute behemoths.
In addition to the public perspective, experts from various parties have discussed the behavior of Asian elephants, habitat suitability, and ecological environment systems.
Based on the attitude of respecting facts and science, the professional community looks forward to a more rational and scientific view of the 15 Asian elephants moving northward, thinking from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between humans and wild animals, and providing a Chinese sample for global wildlife protection.
Data map: Elephant herd monitored in Shuanghe Township, Jinning on June 3.
Photo courtesy of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade
Is the Asian elephant's northward migration unprecedented?
In fact, both Asian and African elephants have the characteristics of migration.
Because migration helps to find new feeding places and resources, and helps gene exchange between populations.
And as the flagship species in tropical forest ecosystems, Asian elephants play an important role in maintaining the dynamics of forest ecosystems and biodiversity. Their individual migration can speed up the replacement of forest ecosystems along the way and promote the dissemination of plant seeds.
In India, where Asian elephants are widely distributed, elephant herds will migrate to neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and even to Myanmar.
This migration is also common in other countries in which Asian elephants are distributed.
From February 17 to 22, 2020, at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species hosted by India, India proposed to include Asian elephants in Appendix I of the Convention, which was approved by the General Assembly to protect the Asian elephants. The migration provides stronger legal protection.
Studies have shown that Asian elephants distributed in China have always had the habit of migration and proliferation.
For example, this time the "hometown" of the Asian elephants moved north-the Asian elephant distribution area with the Mengyang area of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve as the core. Since 1995, there have been 5 Asian elephants spreading northward to the Simao District of Pu'er City. , Became the current Yunxian sub population; another two groups of about 32 migrated to Simao Port and Liushun Town in Simao District, Pu'er City, and moved back and forth between Jinghong and Simao; in 2005, another 13 population spread westward to Lan Cang County, now migrating back and forth between Menghai County and Lancang County, is known as the Lancang-Menghai population; part of the elephant herd spread eastward to Pu'er Jiangcheng County in 2011; since last year, a family has moved south since Mengyang To Ganlanba, and then into Menglun, currently staying near the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In addition, there are also cross-border migration activities of wild Asian elephants in Mengla County of Xishuangbanna and the three northern provinces of Laos.
Generally speaking, the scope of China's Asian elephants' activities has been continuously expanding, manifested in the four directions of east, west, south, and north.
In fact, if the time axis is stretched, China's Asian elephants have been widely distributed in history.
According to historical records, Asian elephants were distributed in the Yellow River Basin during the Shang Dynasty in China, and the northernmost was distributed to Yangyuan, Hebei.
The abbreviated "Yu" in Henan Province shows the distribution of Asian elephants in history.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it retreated to the south of the Yangtze River. The Tang and Song Dynasties were also found in the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan.
With historical development and climate change, Asian elephants are currently mainly distributed in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan Province.
Therefore, the migration of 15 Asian elephants is not a strange event, but the migration distance is farther, which has attracted widespread attention from the mass media.
In this regard, people should consider the species itself more rationally.
Data map: Elephant groups monitored.
Photo courtesy of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade
Is the migration of Asian elephants due to severe damage to their habitats?
This issue once became a hot topic for discussion by many experts and scholars.
The author believes that the discussion and analysis of habitats should be based on full investigation and combined with historical actual conditions, and a more systematic and comprehensive approach.
The distribution of Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna is extremely uneven.
Among the five areas of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, only Mengyang, Mengla, and Shangyong have fixed elephant populations.
Currently, most Asian elephants inhabit outside the reserve.
Some people think that Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve is no longer suitable for Asian elephants to survive, or that because of rubber, Chinese medicine and other reasons, the reserve has caused Asian elephants to leave.
But in fact, it's not.
The statutory scope of the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve is all state-owned forests. The local management department has been strictly in accordance with the protection area regulations to manage it, and has achieved good ecological benefits. There has been no serious damage to the forest resources in the protection area.
On the contrary, the increase in forest canopy density in part of the native habitat of Asian elephants has led to a decrease in the number of edible plants under the forest.
Relevant protection management departments actively adopted the opinions of all parties and adopted a series of habitat restoration and reconstruction measures (such as food source construction, etc.), which has achieved initial results.
But this is a long-term and arduous task that requires continuous concerted efforts of all parties.
In addition, both the protected areas and the habitats of Asian elephants are areas set by humans for wild animals.
For an elephant, as long as it thinks that there is food or is suitable for survival, it will be used as a habitat.
Regardless of the quality of the forest, Asian elephants like to walk between farmland and forest.
According to the optimal foraging theory, the foraging behavior of animals is studied from the economic point of view of input/benefit. Animals search for food or change their foraging behavior under the condition of minimum input and maximum benefit.
As a generalized diet animal, the Asian elephant has 240 types of food and many crops.
From ancient times to the present, the phenomenon of Asian elephants eating crops has occurred from time to time, especially in the food shortage season.
In recent years, humans’ awareness of protecting Asian elephants has gradually strengthened. Asian elephants have begun to no longer fear humans, and are going out of protected areas more and more frequently to eat crops. In addition to the increase in the number of Asian elephants, the contradiction has become more prominent. Food, who wants to spend a lot of time searching for food?
Therefore, forest change is not the main factor in the overlap between Asian elephants and human production and living space. It should be combined with the characteristics of species migration, population expansion, and Asian elephant eating habits. The process of exploration is arduous and long.
Data map: Elephant groups monitored.
Photo courtesy of Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade
The number of Asian elephants in the world has decreased by 90% over the past 100 years. Why has China increased instead?
The Asian elephant’s “long journey” reflects the positive results China has achieved in wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation over the past few decades.
Among them, the most intuitive manifestation is the increase in the population of Asian elephants.
According to statistics, the number of Asian elephant populations active in Yunnan has increased from about 150 in the 1980s to about 300 now.
However, from a global perspective, due to illegal hunting and habitat reduction, the number of Asian elephants has dropped by 90% in the past 100 years.
Furthermore, the scope of activities of Asian elephants in China has expanded from 2 prefectures and 3 counties and cities in the 1990s to 3 prefectures and 12 counties and cities by the end of 2020, which also shows that the areas suitable for the survival of Asian elephants are increasing.
Studies have found that the long-distance migration of wild animals depends on the connectivity of landscape and environmental conditions.
Asian elephants are no exception.
This time, 15 Asian elephants can go all the way north to Kunming to find new habitats unimpeded, which is also attributed to some restored forests and farmland replenishment along the way.
These gratifying changes stem from China's series of fruitful explorations in legal and regulatory protection, Asian elephant habitat protection, population protection, and mitigation of human-elephant conflicts.
Including the implementation of returning farmland to forests and restoring more suitable habitats, the establishment of Asian elephant species breeding bases to carry out shelter and rescue, the planting of food-loving plants, the establishment of elephant "canteens", the establishment of a monitoring and early warning system, raising public awareness of protection and prevention, and a sound compensation mechanism for accidents. Actively carry out cross-border joint protection between China and Laos.
This time, 15 Asian elephants went all the way to the north and the human elephants were safe, which also benefited from the "escort" of the local government departments all the way.
Including continuous real-time tracking of the elephant herd with drones, emergency personnel along the way set up food feeding areas including bananas, corn, pineapple and other food for the elephants to prevent the elephants from entering densely populated areas, and set up defense lines and routes to guide the elephants away from the crowd. Early warning and evacuation of the people in time.
In the protection and management of the northern elephant group, China has maintained monitoring, timely research and judgment, and precautions in advance. When necessary, it adopts flexible methods such as blocking and lure, successfully avoiding close encounters and conflicts between humans and elephants, and ensuring the protection of humans and elephants. Safety.
This relatively rare long-distance migration of wild elephants is also a relatively rare activity for humans and elephants to live in harmony. It is also a friendly dialogue between humans and wild animals. It is a new model for China to explore and resolve the "human-beast conflict".
From a more macro perspective, we also need to conduct longer-term systematic planning and overall planning in terms of territorial planning and engineering construction.
On the one hand, the existing protected areas cannot cover all the habitats of elephants, and it is necessary to more scientifically delineate the habitats of Asian elephants.
On this basis, we will further promote the construction of the Asian Elephant National Park, restore and provide suitable habitats for elephants from the scale of the land and landscape, and guarantee the management system, mechanism, and funds for the special protection of Asian elephants.
On the other hand, it is also necessary to further increase regional or international cooperation, match the scale of species protection, improve cross-border ecosystems, and build cross-border Asian elephant habitats from multiple angles and channels.
At present, from a global perspective, Asian elephant protection is faced with various degrees of loss and fragmentation of habitats, inbreeding behaviors leading to disease inheritance and spread, and increased human elephant conflicts.
Various countries in the distribution of Asian elephants are gradually improving the legal provisions related to the protection and management of Asian elephants, improving protection and management measures, and continuously putting into use a variety of scientific and technological monitoring equipment, and protection publicity and education are gradually gaining popularity.
It is hoped that all countries can join hands to win more resources and provide more feasible plans for the protection of Asian elephants.
It is hoped that this global vision "elephant" action can provide synergy for global wildlife protection.
Expectation, all expectation is not just expectation.
(Finish)
Chen Fei, Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Mainly engaged in the research of Asian elephants, their habitats, and biodiversity.