Wild elephant intrudes into village in southwest China

A wild Asian elephant intruded into a village in Jinggu Dai and Yi Autonomous County of southwest China's Yunnan Province in search of food, according to the local forestry police on Thursday.

The county's forestry police received a report on Sunday that a male wild elephant was wandering around Xinzhai Village, eating and damaging corn and bananas.

"I got up at around 7 a.m. to look for my ox on a mountain and discovered the feces and footprints of an elephant," said villager Li Zhigui. He saw the elephant eating bananas outside the village in the afternoon.

Police immediately came to the village and monitored the whereabouts of the adult elephant, which was thought to be aggressive, to prevent human-animal conflict.

"With strengthened protection efforts for the environment and wildlife, the number of wild Asian elephants has been growing in China in recent years," said Chen Mingyong, a wildlife expert at Yunnan University.

Conflicts between elephants and humans are on the rise. In August, elephants charged a family of three heading to Jinghong City on a motorbike, killing two of the people.

Wild Asian elephants are under Class A protection in China, with a population of about 300, mainly scattered in Xishuangbanna and the cities of Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan.

The elephant discovered on Sunday is still in the county and being monitored by forestry police, who warned villagers not to provoke or hurt the animal. The government will compensate for damage to crops and houses caused by elephants.

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Drones used to protect Yunnan residents from wild elephants

Police and forestry workers are using drones to monitor the activities of a wild elephant that has attacked several vehicles in Menghai county, Yunnan province.

The adult elephant smashed the front window of a bus and pushed a car off the road at the weekend, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday. No deaths or injuries were reported.

On Saturday, the bus broke down and the driver insisted on staying in the vehicle, despite warnings from the forestry bureau, a source was quoted as saying in the report.

At 6 pm, the wild elephant approached the bus, looked inside, and hit the window with its head, according to the source. The driver was unhurt.

On Sunday morning, the elephant pushed a car off the road, the report added.

Wang Tongxing, deputy director of the Menghai public security bureau, attributed the incidents to the migration season.

According to Chen Mingyong, a professor in Yunnan University’s Life Sciences Department who has studied Asian elephants for years, wild elephants usually migrate between November and April when food is scarce.

“They chase down food, wander around, and don’t have a home,” he said.

There is also a group of 16 elephants and one lone elephant in neighboring Lancang county, according to the forestry authority.

At present, drones are being used to conduct real-time monitoring of all 18 elephants 24 hours a day. Sections of road will be cordoned off if elephants are found there.

“If the elephants get close to villages, alerts will be sent to the villagers,” Chen said. “People should also avoid provoking the elephants, who may be aggressive if they are scared.”

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Two killed in elephant attack in China

Two persons were killed after they were attacked by wild elephants in southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said today.

The incident occurred at a farm in Meng'a township when the elephants attacked a family of three heading to Jinghong city on a motorbike yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The man survived, while his wife and son died.

Wild Asian elephants are under Class A protection in China, with a population of about 300, mainly scattered in Xishuangbanna and the cities of Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan.

In recent years, there have been frequent reports of attacks by wild elephants causing casualties and property damage in Yunnan.

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Wild elephant intrudes into village in southwest China

A wild elephant strayed into a village in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Tuesday.  A video taken by local residents showed that the elephant was seen near a primary school in the morning and then took a stroll on the village road, causing disruption to the residents.

According to local residents, there have been a total of 18 Asian elephants appearing near the village recently. Asian elephants are rare species in China and are under state protection. The elephants commonly inhabit in southwestern Yunnan Province.

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Wild elephant attacks man in rubber plantation in China

A 43-year-old worker was injured after he was attacked by a wild elephant in a rubber tree plantation in southwest China, Chinese media reported.

The worker, Li Niusha, is in a stable condition after 11 of his ribs were fractured in the attack in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province, the news website Thepaper.cn reported.

Li was removing weeds to expand the rubber plantation in Mengyang township last Saturday afternoon when he ran into a group of about six wild elephants.

Li fled for his life, but one of the elephants rushed at him and attacked.

Chinese rescuers use drone, stun grenades and firecrackers to free 3 wild elephants trapped in pool

He crawled to a nearby river and a fisherman came to his aid, the report said.
The authorities were quoted as saying that the attack took place in an area where the elephants were looking for food.

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Hungry elephants attacked a village in China

Starving wild elephants terrorizing a Chinese village. Frightened residents locked the doors and took refuge on the roofs of houses. Elephants held in a village in Yunnan province all night, scouring the locality and its surroundings for the presence of food. One of the giants even made it to the highway and blocked traffic for 20 minutes.

Just elephants-occupiers was 14, and this is not their first RAID on a local village. Hungry and ready for all the flock was noticed on January 26. So, in the village the Mandate elephants stuffed the landing and trampled a few geese and chickens. The movements of the elephant gang is watching with a drone.

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Wild Elephants Invade Chinese Village in Search of Food

Youtube / Caters ClipsA Cure? Scientists Successfully Synthesize Elephant Protein That Kills Cancer According to the forest police on Tuesday morning, 14 elephants invaded the agricultural land of Mandat village in the county of Xishuangbanna-Daisuki autonomous region, Xinhua news reported.

The elephants were present in the vicinity from January 26 and wandered near the fields and farmland in search of food. The elephants trampled a few chickens and geese on a farm, roamed the highway and ate the village’s crops.

Police sent out special personnel for alarm announcements, traffic police warnings and evacuation of local residents. The government used a drone to track the escaped animals.

Wild Asian elephants in China are protected animals. They mainly live in the county of Xishuangbanna Dai, as well as in the cities of Payer and Linking in Yuannan province.

Due to the lack of food in winter months, the animals are forced to leave their territories in search of food in nearby villages.

According to the Forestry Administration, from 2011 to 2015 in there were 48 thousand cases of elephant invasions in Yunnan province. Due to such incidents 18 people died, 27 were injured and the economic damage amounted to almost $14 million.

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Wild elephants in Yunnan cause chaos

Forestry authorities in Southwest China's Yunnan province have been on high alert over a group of wild elephants that are reported to have been causing chaos in villages.

Early on Tuesday, 14 wild Asian elephants invaded crops in Menghai county, Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture.

The county's forestry police and forestry bureau sent personnel to warn locals, control traffic and evacuate people to safety, while a drone was used to track the elephants.

Hu Xikai, a forestry police officer, said that the elephants entered the county on Jan 26 and had been wandering through village woods and roadside farmland looking for food.

Three chickens and two geese have been killed after being stepped on by the elephants, which have crossed expressways and eaten crops.

According to the provincial forestry bureau, more than 48,000 cases of wild elephants causing chaos were reported in Yunnan from 2011 to 2015, resulting in 18 deaths, 27 injuries and economic losses of about 99 million yuan ($14.4 million).

Wild Asian elephants are first-class protected animals in China, with their population mainly scattered in Yunnan's Xishuangbanna and in the cities of Pu'er and Lincang.

A lack of food on mountains in winter sometimes forces the elephants to seek food on village farmland.

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Wild elephant kills worker in SW China

An attack by a wild elephant left a rubber plantation worker dead in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province on Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred when two workers were approached by the elephants, with one managing to escape up a tree and call the police.

The other worker was found at about 2am after a wide search, however, he had been fatally wounded by the elephant by the time emergency services arrived.

The elephant has yet to be found by authorities.

As of May 2016, there were 279 wild elephants living in the forest of Xishuangbanna, an autonomous prefecture in the southeast of China.

In the last 25 years alone, 43 people have been killed by wild elephants in the region.

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China's elephants feel the squeeze

Dinah Gardner, Al Jazeera
December 16, 2008

China's wild elephants are so rare – there are only about 300 left in the southern province of Yunnan – that when American tourist Jeremy McGill stumbled across a group earlier this year in a nature reserve he whipped out his camera and started taking photos.

It was a move that almost cost him his life.

"I was alone when I came across the four elephants," he remembers. "One scooped me up into his mouth and bit me. My body was folded in half, my head between my knees, and then the elephant spat me out and stomped on me… Suddenly they stopped and walked away… I was found about an hour later just lying there with my intestines hanging out of my body."

A few weeks after McGill was hurled to the ground, a Chinese migrant worker was crushed to death by an elephant on his way home inside another nature reserve. In June, an elephant killed a female hawker at Wild Elephant Valley, the same nature reserve that McGill was attacked.

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China's threatened elephants turn into killers

Dinah Gardner, The Independent
26 October 2008

There are fewer than 300 wild elephants left in China, so when Jeremy McGill, an American tourist, stumbled across a group of adults earlier this year in a nature reserve in Yunnan province, near the border with Laos, he whipped out his camera and started taking pictures. It almost cost him his life.
"I was alone when I came across the four elephants," he said. "One scooped me up into his mouth and bit me. My body was folded in half, my head between my knees, and then the elephant spat me out and stomped on me. Suddenly they stopped and walked away. I was found about an hour later, just lying there with my intestines hanging out of my body."

A few weeks later, a Chinese migrant worker returning to his home village was stamped to death by an elephant. In Wild Elephant Valley, the same reserve where Mr McGill was attacked, a woman selling food was killed in June. Elephants will get aggressive if they feel threatened, but so many attacks in the space of six months is unusual, according to Grace Gabriel, Asia regional director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), who has worked on elephant conservation projects in China for a decade.

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Elephant kills man in China nature park

ABC Online

February 9, 2008

An elephant has killed a man in a Chinese nature reserve where an American tourist was earlier severely injured, the state news agency Xinhua said.

The animal attacked Zeng Shaoping on Wednesday as he returned home after celebrating the Lunar New Year with friends, the agency said, quoting the local Chuncheng Evening News.

Two of his friends raced to the scene when they heard trumpeting noises, and found him lying on the roadside.

An American living in China was severely injured by an elephant in the reserve, in Yunnan province in south-west China, in January.

Jeremy Allen McGill suffered eight broken bones and internal injuries to his lungs and intestines in the attack.

The report said elephants were generally peaceful creatures and only attacked when they felt threatened by other animals or humans encroaching on their territory.

Wild elephants attack in SW China, injure American tourist

Xinhua

January 27, 2008

KUNMING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- An American tourist was seriously injured after he was apparently attacked by wild Asian elephants roaming in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Thursday, officials confirmed on Sunday.

Jeremy Allen McGill, who teaches English at Huazhong Agricultural University in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and arrived in Xishuangbanna for sightseeing on Wednesday, was under intensive care at the central hospital in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, the foreign affairs office in Xishuangbanna said.

McGill was found lying unconsciously on the ground at the "Wild Elephant Valley", a nature reserve 50 km from the nearest city of Jinghong, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, said Li Ling, a security guard.

"He was seriously wounded in the belly, apparently by elephants," said Li, who was patrolling the area. "Three elephants were roaming within 20 meters from where he was."

McGill received several operations on Thursday night. Doctors said he was also injured in the lungs and had several fractured ribs.

Officials from the Huazhong Agricultural University, who arrived in Yunnan on Friday, said they were trying to get in touch with McGill's family.

The "Wild Elephant Valley" is a 370-hectare reserve featuring tropical forests, wild birds and animals. It has at least 30 wild elephants and was named one of China's 50 most recommended destinations for foreign tourists in 2006.

Tourist injured in elephant attack

China Daily

November 29, 2006

A female tourist from Yunnan Province was badly injured when four elephants attacked her on a road neighbouring a nature reserve in Xishuangbanna over the weekend.

The woman was resting with her tour group at the side of the road when the four elephants attacked.

Experts said such attacks were rarely reported and that the elephants may have been frightened by someone else nearby.

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