China's wandering elephants head home after epic journey across the country

A herd of elephants roaming through China has been on a long trip for the past 17 months. The pachyderms are now on the final stage of their journey home, after wandering hundreds of kilometres from their natural reserve, Chinese officials revealed last week.

The majority of endangered Asian elephants live in Myanmar-Laos border

The enormous Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve is nestled in the southern Yunnan province's lower end, directly on the Myanmar-Laos border. The majority of Yunnan's endangered Asian elephants live in this beautiful tropical forest, which covers over 241,000 hectares- about one and a half times the size of London.

A herd of roughly 14 elephants decided to depart this tropical paradise in March 2020, travelling north. At first, no one seemed to notice. Wild elephants are known to move freely and frequently across the region, to the point where one city, Pu'er in Yunnan Province, even operates "elephant canteens" to feed their gigantic visitors.

Elephants went to several towns in search of food

Stories surfaced earlier this year of elephants crashing into people's homes, chewing on their crops, and drinking their water. Elephants walking the streets of several towns were also caught on camera and the clips soon went viral. Experts are still perplexed by their actions.

However, a team of China-based scientists led by Professor Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz theorises that the elephants left to find more food for a variety of reasons in an article set to be published soon in the Conservation Letters journal. Food was also short due to a severe drought that occurred for a year prior to the elephants' departure. Others have pointed out that deforestation and encroaching farming have reduced elephant habitats outside of protected areas in China over the years.

Authorities have made an effort to strengthen forest protection. However, a higher forest canopy blocks more sunlight, resulting in fewer edible plants growing in the understorey, which has resulted in less available food for elephants within nature reserves, according to Prof Campos-Arceiz. Chinese officials jumped into action as the herd moved north through Yunnan's verdant highlands and woods. An emergency task force was formed, with tens of thousands of people dispatched to keep the elephants away from communities and cities. 

(Image- @ZouYueTweets/Twitter)