Wild elephant's "hit and run" in Yunnan

(Xinhua) -- When a panicking Wang tried to run away from a wild Asian elephant, she was rolled up by the mammal's trunk and lifted off the ground. She grabbed a tusk and screamed, scaring the elephant away.

Wang, a resident of Jinghong City in southwest China's Yunnan Province, was attacked by the male elephant on Wednesday morning near the Wild Elephant Valley, a tourist attraction in Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, according to the local public security bureau.

"I was picking vegetables in my field, when the elephant ran towards me all of a sudden," Wang said.

After Wang scared the elephant away, she painfully crawled to a highway 10 meters away, stopped a passing car and went back home. Her husband later called police, and sent her to a hospital. Her injuries are not life-threatening, according to doctors.

Wang is the latest victim to suffer an attack from the wild species in Yunnan. Last year, a villager was injured by a wild Asian elephant while picking mushrooms. The same year, a wild elephant walked through the city of Pu'er for about six hours before heading back into the forest, while a man was trampled to death by another wild elephant in Xishuangbanna.

Wild Asian elephants, with a population of about 300 in China, are under Class A protection. In China, they are mainly found in Yunnan.

With stronger environmental and wildlife protection efforts, the number of wild Asian elephants in China has grown in recent years.

"Enhanced protection has led to a rise in the number of the mammals in recent years," said Bao Mingwei, an elephant doctor. "In the 1990s, only about 180 wild Asian elephants were living in China, but now the population is estimated to exceed 300."

However, according to the provincial forestry bureau, wild elephants caused 32 deaths and 159 injuries from 2011 to 2017.

"Population growth, reclamation expansion and a decrease of habitats for wild elephants are the primary causes of the conflicts," said Chen Mingyong, a professor at Yunnan University.

The simple digestive system of Asian elephants makes them hungry often. They have to eat about 300 kg of plants every day. "If the forests can't meet their needs, they risk stepping into farmland to fill their bellies," Chen said.

Since 2014, Yunnan has purchased commercial insurance for residents of the province. The government pays the premiums and insurance companies compensate residents if wild animals attack them.

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Wild Asian elephants enjoy Spring Festival at Yunnan's Wild Elephant Valley

Wild Asian elephants are celebrating their own Spring Festival at the Wild Elephant Valley.

Spring Festival is not only the most significant holiday in China, it also is the peak time for wild elephants to converge on the valley from Pu'er City and Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province.

"The wild elephants like to come to our valley every Spring Festival because the food is abundant and no one disturbs them. Therefore, the number of wild elephants during Spring Festival is higher than normal. We saw 44 elephants on Friday," said Yan Hanlu, head of the observation team of Asian elephants in the valley.

The wild elephants in the valley consist of five herds, all of which include elephant calves. The largest group consists of 17 elephants, and the smallest is a single male elephant.

These wild elephants hang around in the valley, bathing and playing with each other in the river.

"Unlike tigers, the wild elephant will not fight for territory. Once they've had enough to eat and drink, they'll split into groups and walk away. They like to switch places and have interactions with each other," said Yan.

Asian elephants are listed as endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and are under first-class state protection in China.

During the dry season from February to April, when there is less food and water in the mountains, wild elephants head to the valley for food. About 40 to 50 will show up in a day.

Local forestry and other departments have reminded the surrounding residents to help in the protection of wild elephants and to avoid human-elephant conflicts.

(Cover image shows two wild Asian elephants via VCG.)

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Group of 30 wild Asian elephants spotted in SW China

A group of 30 wild Asian elephants have been spotted in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Of the group, nine were calves, with three under one year old, according to a wild elephant observation and protection team based in the Wild Elephant Valley in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

They were spotted Friday in the valley, which boasts sufficient water and plants and is a natural passage for a variety of animals.

This group of elephants is likely to have come to forage for minerals. A group of more than 50 were spotted in the same valley in early March. It is rare to see them in such large numbers in this season.

Wild Asian elephants, with a population of about 300 in China, are under Class A protection. In China, they are mainly scattered in southern Yunnan.

With stronger environmental and wildlife protection efforts, the number of wild Asian elephants in China has grown in recent years.




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