Wandering Elephant Herd Reaches Kunming

A herd of 15 Asian elephants has wandered into the outskirts of Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province – a city of 7 million people – and experts are not clear where it is headed. According to media reports, the elephants left a nature reserve in Xishuangbanna, an area around 500 kilometers to the south, in March 2020. Experts said the herd, which includes six adult females, three adult males, three adolescents and three calves, is showing no signs of returning. To prevent them from attacking residents, officials placed tons of food ahead of the herd. Some experts speculate that human activity is to blame for the migration after the Xishuangbanna government promoted the cultivation of rubber plantations, which reduced the elephants’ habitat. Experts warned that the migration seems aimless and could end in tragedy unless authorities work to guide the elephants back to the nature reserve as soon as possible.