Elephant herd enters jurisdiction of Kunming

The wild elephant herd migrating northwards entered the jurisdiction of Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province, at 21:55 on June 2. The entry point is located in the Shuanghe township, Kunming’s Jingning District.

Under the coordination of Yunnan provincial bureau of forestry and grassland, the drone operators, emergency respondents and zoologists changed their surveillance site accordingly, sending locals alerts on the herd's movement around the clock.

Kunming City and Jingning District have launched a dual emergency response with drone monitoring, truck blockades, mass evacuation and baiting. They aim to ensure security to both elephants and humans. The neighboring Yuxi City continues its precautions in case the giants should return.

No one knows exactly why the 15 elephants traveled all the way from their forest home in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in south Yunnan, but authorities have mobilized thousands of people to monitor their migration, suspend traffic on roads they marched on and use food to lure them away from human settlements.

There were initially 16 elephants in the herd, which left their nature reserve last year to roam in nearby counties under the city of Pu'er. One adult elephant dropped out and two were born in the journey, according to China National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Source: Yunnan Daily and Xinhua; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue