Yunnan Province held a press conference to answer hot questions such as “How do the elephants cross the Yuanjiang” and other hot issues. Will Asian elephants migrate “away from home” in the future? meeting!Fly into the homes of ordinary people
The high-profile Asian elephant herd that moved north from Yunnan has crossed the Yuan River safely, and with the help of humans, it has overcome the biggest problem on the way home. Last night, the Information Office of the Yunnan Provincial Government held a press conference on “Moving the Asian Elephants North to Cross the Yuanjiang River Safely”, answering hot questions such as “How did the elephants cross the Yuanjiang River” and “Will the Asian elephants move north in the future?” . At the same time, it was revealed that the National Forestry and Grass Administration and the Yunnan Provincial Government have begun to promote the construction of national parks.
Caption: The scene of the press conference.Zhao Jiashe
Make every effort to ensure that the elephants cross the river safely
According to Yang Yingyong, the executive deputy commander of the Asian Elephant Group Safety Prevention and Emergency Response Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as the “Command Headquarters”) and deputy secretary of the Yuxi Municipal Party Committee Political and Legal Committee of Yuxi City’s Northward Movement of the Asian Elephant Group, at 7:30 on May 11th Crossing the main stream of Yuanjiang River left and right, when the main stream of Yuanjiang River was in the dry season. With the advent of the rainy season, the water flow has increased sharply, which has become the biggest obstacle to the “southern return” of the elephant group. The Yuanjiang water system separates two important natural climate zones, and the vegetation types on the north and south sides are obviously different, which is the boundary line between the suitable habitat of the Asian elephant and the general habitat.
Before the elephant group entered the territory of Yuanjiang County, the headquarters organized field surveys such as headquarters personnel, experts from the water conservancy department, experts from the highway department, and forestry and grass departments, and selected a crossing point for the elephant group scientifically. In just a few days, they walked the 76 kilometers of Yuanjiang River in Yuanjiang County. In order to avoid the danger that the elephants might encounter when crossing the river from the waters, they finally chose to let the elephants go from the old 213 National Road near the Yuanjiang entrance toll gate of Kunmo Highway. The old bridge across the river. The bridge is 151.62 meters long, 7 meters wide, and 14.6 meters high.
In order to help guide the elephants to move to the crossing point, the headquarters surveyed and determined three routes for the east, middle and west. Yuanjiang County put in 2,844 vehicles and 6,673 man-times to implement containment, containment, and feeding guidance. During this period, the elephant group deviated from the established route countless times, but after 13 days of hard work, the elephant group was finally guided to reach the crossing point and cross the river safely.
Caption: The elephant group passes the Yuanjiang Bridge.Photo courtesy of Yunnan Forest Fire Fighting
The elephants will definitely move north in the future
Shen Qingzhong, a member of the Asian Elephant Group Expert Group and Senior Engineer of Yunnan Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, said that it is best for the “short-nosed family” to return to the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve where they originally inhabited. If they cannot, after they return to Pu’er City or Xishuangbanna Prefecture, the local area will rely on the early warning and prevention system established in the original habitat to do a good job of continuous tracking and monitoring of the elephant herd to ensure that the elephant herd can move freely in a suitable area. With the strong support of the National Forestry and Grass Administration and the unified deployment of the Yunnan Forestry and Grass Administration, the two places are organizing the implementation of habitat restoration and reconstruction and safety precaution project construction plans, as far as possible to provide comfortable habitat space and safe migration channels for elephants .
Will Asian elephants move northward in the future? Shen Qingzhong said that the answer is yes. Historically, Asian elephants have spread across large areas from the Yellow River Basin to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. For them, migration is a normal behavior. Migration helps wild elephants find new habitats and develop gene exchanges between populations. In addition, elephants have a high level of intelligence and have certain thinking skills. They can form a memory map for migration routes. They are also highly adaptable to the living environment. Every time they successfully climb high mountains, cross bridges, or use artificial facilities, they have experience May be accumulated and passed on. In the future, Asian elephants may still have large-scale migration events, which may be the “short-nosed family”, or they may be other ethnic groups or unique elephants. However, after this actual combat exercise, various local working mechanisms for the safety and emergency response of Asian elephants have been formed. Even if the northward movement of the elephant herd occurs again, it can be dealt with calmly.
He also suggested that we should further comprehensively analyze and summarize the experience and lessons of Asian elephants moving northward, scientifically demonstrate the possibility of using natural barriers such as Yuanjiang, customs clearance, and Ailao Mountain to deploy defense lines, and try to control the range of elephant herd activities in suitable habitat areas.
National park construction on the agenda
“This time the work of moving the Asian elephants to the north is only a microcosm of Yunnan’s wildlife protection work. The protection of Asian elephants has a long way to go.” Director Wan Yong said. Investigation and monitoring show that in recent years, the Asian elephant population in Yunnan has shown three obvious changes: one is the population growth; the second is the population proliferation, and a large number of Asian elephants are active outside the nature reserve; the third is the change in habits, with the implementation of comprehensive hunting bans. Wild elephants have changed from being “fear of people” to “accompaniment” activities. They frequently enter the fields and villages to feed, their food habits have changed, and the space for human elephant activities is highly overlapping.
Wan Yong revealed that at present, the state has put the construction of a national park with Asian elephants as the main protection object on the agenda, and Yunnan Province will also accelerate the creation of Asian elephant national parks, integrate and optimize the scope of existing habitats, and further strengthen monitoring, early warning, and safety. The establishment of a prevention and emergency response system will enhance the level of Asian elephant protection and safety prevention capabilities, and promote harmony between humans and elephants.
Image source: CCTV News
The intelligent behavior of elephants is worth studying
Since April 16, the Asian elephant group moving northward has traveled more than 1,300 kilometers, passing by Yuxi, Honghe, Kunming and other places. It was introduced at the press conference that as of August 8, the province had deployed more than 25,000 police and staff, 973 drone sorties, deployed more than 15,000 emergency vehicles, evacuated more than 150,000 people, and delivered elephant food. Nearly 180 tons. The wild animal public liability insurance underwriting company accepted 1,501 declarations of losses caused by Asian elephants, and assessed losses of RMB 5.1252 million. So far, 939 claims have been settled, insurance premiums of RMB 2.164 million have been redeemed, and related claims work is progressing in an orderly manner.
The northward movement of Asian elephants also provides a rare learning opportunity for mankind. Chen Fei, a member of the Asian Elephant Group Expert Group and Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that Asian elephants can accurately locate the migration direction, food and water sources. Such orientations, as well as the behaviors of unity, collective decision-making, division of labor and cooperation shown in group activities are all worthy of further in-depth study.
In terms of monitoring and early warning technology, it also provides practical opportunities for the application of information monitoring technology in the field of animal protection. In the process of tracking the elephants, the monitoring team overcomes technical difficulties such as the rapid transfer and installation of monitoring equipment, the power and communication guarantees in various complex environments, and the multi-point and two-way transmission of real-time monitoring and early warning and prevention and control information. It verifies my country’s strong scientific and technological service guarantee capability, and also provides a reference for improving animal monitoring facilities and technical means.
In terms of prevention and control technology, moving northward Asian elephant herds provides practical opportunities for exploring animal population management and control programs, summarizing the prevention work principle of “marking, managing people, assisting in relocation, and settlement of claims”, and innovatively using Asian elephant migration. Route pre-judgment, flexible intervention technology combining deployment control and feeding, successfully guiding the northward Asian elephant flock to cross the Yuanjiang River are typical cases of integrated application of these technologies.
Xinmin Evening News reporter Jiang Yan
Editor: Bao Yonger
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