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GLOBALink | China's migrating elephant herd draws great attention after 500 km trek

Source: Xinhua| 2021-06-12 17:48:38|Editor: huaxia

A wandering herd of 15 wild Asian elephants in southwest China's Yunnan has caught global attention.

The herd traveled approximately 500 km from their forest home in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture before reaching Kunming last week.

Drones have captured footage of the elephant herd sleeping and a baby elephant getting stuck. Earlier, drones shot footage of adult elephants helping a baby elephant get out of water.

For over a month, authorities have sent police to escort the herd, evacuated roads to facilitate their passage and used food to distract them from entering densely populated areas.

To help the government guide the wild elephants, some villagers have donated their own corn to feed them.

Asian elephants are under A-level state protection in China, and are mostly found in Yunnan. Thanks to enhanced protection, wild elephant population in the province has grown to about 300, up from 193 in the 1980s.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service

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