Drone footage shot over the weekend showed the herd of migrating elephants sleeping under trees in Yimen County in China’s Yunnan province.
The herd consisted of the fifteen elephants initially, but one of them has left, straying 12 kilometers away from the main herd, according to China’s state media.
The herd was in Yimen County on Thursday, after they entered and left Yunnan’s capital city of Kunming.
Since April, six female adult elephants, three male adults, three young adults, and three cubs have traveled over 500 kilometers from their home, the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan province.
Habitat destroyed
The space available for China’s last remaining native elephant community has shrunk over the years.
Humans destroyed the tropical forests of Xishuangbanna to build banana, tea or rubber plantations or to plant lucrative raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine.
Asian elephants primarily live in tropical forests. When they walk into villages, they usually look for food because their shrinking home doesn’t provide enough food anymore.
The Animal Reader is an animal news website. Become a Friend of The Animal Reader and support animal journalism.
