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Roaming elephants - 25th June 2021

A herd of wild elephants is trekking across southwestern China. Unfortunately, they’re leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Farms and villages have experienced over a million dollars of damage. The elephants have taken produce from barns, drunk a water tank dry and feasted on an entire cornfield.

Wild Asian elephants, a protected species in China, inhabit the Yunnan Province National Nature Reserve. It’s uncertain what has made some leave.

They've been on the move for 6 weeks and already travelled 500 kilometres – destination unknown. Some believe the herd’s leader has got lost and the rest have followed. For a herd to travel so far from the reserve is surprising.

The authorities are monitoring the elephants' movements carefully to protect residents. So far, no incidents have resulted in deaths. People are attempting to direct the herd with food and block roads to their villages with trucks.

The wild elephant population of Yunnan Province is around 300. There have been reports of individuals entering villages before but nothing on this scale.