Original title: The 10th World Elephant Day has arrived
Source: CCTV
CCTV News:August 12 is the 10th World Elephant Day. Let’s pay attention to the Asian elephant tour group moving north from Yunnan. They continued on their way back on the 11th, and are currently active in a woodland in Yuanjiang County, Yuxi City, getting closer and closer to the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. Since walking north and rounding south from Xishuangbanna in March last year, they have gained a lot of fans all the way. Next, let us review the “treasure memory” on the road of chasing the elephant.
In March 2020, 16 wild Asian elephants set off from the Meng adopted child protection zone in Xishuangbanna Prefecture and began their journey to the north. This “tour” was named “short-nosed family” because one of the elephants’ nose was injured.
New members of the “short-nosed family” were born during the trip, and some elephants left the group. Finally, 15 members were fixed, and the “group leader” was one of the female elephants. The “short nose family” traveled more than 500 kilometers from Xishuangbanna, Pu’er and Yuxi to Kunming.
According to incomplete statistics, the elephant group caused 412 incidents in just over a month in Yuanjiang and Shiping counties of Pu’er. They also destroyed 200 catties of glutinous rice, trampled on two chickens, and ate corn, pineapple, bananas, rice and other foods. . In order to induce elephants and avoid human-elephant conflicts, according to the situation of feeding food, it is not counted as the crops eaten by themselves. Basically, 15 elephants eat 2-3 tons of food a day.
According to my country’s “Wild Animal Protection Law”: The local people’s government shall compensate for the casualties, crops or other property losses caused by the protection of wild animals protected by this law.
When traveling to Mojiang County, a female elephant gave birth to cubs, and the number of elephants rose to 17. According to the staff of Pu’er City Forestry and Grass Bureau, after the first cub was born, an old elephant was out of the group on March 12, and the second baby elephant was born on the 28th.
Pu’er borders Xishuangbanna, and there are occasional elephants taking “short-distance tours”, but people did not expect that the “short-nosed family” would be far away, all the way from Pu’er to the north, which aroused crowds of people.
On the 4th and 24th, the two elephants also “off the group” and left, and a fixed group of 15 elephants was formally established. The three stray elephants are currently active in Ning’er County of Pu’er.
In Shiping, a baby elephant destroyed about 200 catties of glutinous rice, because of a “hangover”, it caught up with his companion the next day.
After entering Eshan County, the county government issued a notice to remind residents not to dry the crops that elephants like, and to avoid teasing the elephant herd and direct contact.
Because the elephant herd played too much, on May 27th, the Yunnan Forest Fire Fighting participated in the search for the elephant herd. But that night, the elephant group went to a car dealership in Eshan County and broke the glass of the merchant.
The elephant group seems to have a special liking for fresh corn. They ate more than 200 catties when they entered Nan’an Shao Village, Hongta District.
On the 30th, the elephant herd entered Dashuichong Village in Hongta District. The people who ate food ate 200 kilograms of corn and trampled two chickens to death.
When the elephant group appeared at the intersection of Luohe Township and Daying Street, Yuxi, the local area quickly set up feeding points to induce the elephant group to migrate northward and avoid entering the township. And this place is only about 20 kilometers away from the boundary of Jinning District, Kunming.
On the evening of June 2, the elephant group still arrived in Jinning District, Kunming City. Kunming and Yuxi have invested a lot of manpower and material resources to carry out 24-hour monitoring to ensure the food source of the elephants and ensure the safety of the elephants.
The pressure brought by the elephant herd to the north is not small. A picture of the elephants lying flat and sleeping comforted the hearts of countless people.
Fourteen elephants entered Yuxi City for shopping, and a gluttonous elephant has been placed in order after leaving the army on June 5.
On July 7, after 32 days of gluttonous elephant activity alone, Xishuangbanna Asian Elephant Rescue and Breeding Center administered anesthesia to it and transferred it back to the Meng adopted child reserve. After confirming that the physical signs are normal and there is no trauma, the greedy elephant will return to the forest.
On July 9, the elephant group continued on its way back to the south and entered Shiping County, Honghe Prefecture. The local area invested a lot of manpower and material resources to finally help the elephant group return to Yuanjiang County on July 27.
On August 8, 14 Asian elephants that moved north successfully returned to the south bank of the Yuanjiang River via the Yuanjiang Bridge, 12 kilometers away from the Mojiang County area of Pu’er City. At present, people in the monitoring area are safe. Next, the on-site command will continue scientific guidance to help the elephants who have played enough to return to their habitat.
Behind the elephant group’s safe journey home, there are actually countless people escorting it. Next, let us re-acquaint these elephants who have paid silently.
CCTV reporter Zhu Huirong: “In the past few days, according to the different positions of the elephants, our headquarters is constantly moving. Now we will follow the experts to rush to the newest headquarters location.”
Such scenes have often occurred in the past few months. In order to closely track the movements of the elephant herd, the provincial headquarters of the Asian elephant group safety precautions in Yunnan Province moved north to follow the elephant group and fought in the front several times.
Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said: “If it (the elephant herd) moves quickly, we will immediately take corresponding measures. If it is approaching the village, we must promptly warn and evacuate. the masses”
If the headquarters is the brain of the elephant protection operation, then the front monitoring team members are the eyes. As of August 8, there were 973 sorties of drones used only to photograph elephant activities.
Wang Jie, head of the wild Asian elephant search and monitoring task force of the Yunnan Forest Fire Corps, said: “We have maintained a proper height, about 200-300 meters. Our drone has a zoom function, which can achieve a 60 times zoom. , Including two shooting modes of infrared and visible light.”
In addition to the eyes in the sky, there are also ground monitoring teams. When elephants encounter rain or the jungle is too lush, they will carry high-magnification monitoring equipment. Under normal circumstances, they will keep a safe distance of 200 meters from the elephant herd, but even so, they are often attacked by the elephant herd. On the evening of July 30, the elephant group suddenly changed direction and met with the monitoring team members. The team members hurriedly turned off the car and quietly took pictures in the car.
Chen Shengyao, the propaganda team of the Wild Asian Elephant Searching and Monitoring Team of the Yunnan Forest Fire Fighting Corps, said: “I quickly recorded the ten-second picture with a camera. After the recording, we quickly evacuated the scene.”
Through analyzing and judging the information ahead, the local area adopted traffic control in advance and evacuated the people in the areas where the Asian elephants might pass. As of August 8, Yunnan Province had deployed and controlled more than 15,000 emergency vehicles and carried out road closures and controls. This master had even stared at the elephant for five days and five nights, eating and lodging in the muck cart.
Faced with a reporter’s question, “Then you stare at the elephant, when can you sleep?” The muck truck driver said: “If the elephant moves forward at night, we will all move forward. If the elephant is not moving, let’s just Rest in place.”
Road closures, isolation, enclosures, and feeding guidance, these methods have repeatedly prevented the elephant herd from entering the crowded area and helped the elephant herd to return and migrate. Up to now, the feeding team of the front headquarters has put in nearly 180 tons of elephant food, corn, pineapple and other sufficient supplies. However, the elephants whose mouths are raised do not buy it every time.
Wang Weibin, deputy commander of the provincial headquarters for the safety and precaution of the Asian elephant population in Yunnan’s northward migration, said: “This is fine grain. For it, it can eat corn stalks. ), becoming more and more critical.”
Sometimes, the feeding team will also receive food sent by the villagers on their own initiative. It is true that along the way, whether it is an early evacuation and transfer, or the food at home is stolen by elephants, the villagers along the way have always maintained a friendly group of objects.
A villager said: “Let’s protect it. It is not afraid of us, and we are not afraid of it.” Another villager said: “There are quite a few elephants in the world, so we must take care of it.”
The reporter asked: “What should I do if I eat your corn?” A villager of the Yi ethnic group in Shijie, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province said: “The elephant is also hungry. It was not intentional.”
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