China’s elephant ‘canteen’ keeps villagers safe from peckish pachyderms

The facility spans about 66 hectares in a wildlife reserve in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, China National Radio reported.

To make it irresistible to the pachyderms, the area has been stripped of all non-native trees and shrubs and restocked with their favourite food plants. These include such delights as paper mulberry and Nepalese broom grass, the report said.

With such an abundant food supply, the elephants are not the only creatures attracted to the new area. Antelopes and boars have also been seen tucking in to the treats on offer.


Over the past decade, the wild elephant population in Yunnan has doubled to more than 300, according to forestry authorities. As a result there has been increased competition for food and the hungry animals have increasingly gone in search of sustenance in villages and even towns.

Between 1991 and 2016, more than 40 people in Yunnan were killed in elephant attacks, according to official statistics.

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