China coaxing wayward elephants

BEIJING: China is coaxing its wild elephants with bananas and drones to return to their protected habitat in southwest Yunnan province following a 1,300 km trek. Wildlife protection officials told a press briefing the elephants safely crossed a bridge over the Yuan River, headed south towards a nature reserve administered by the city of Puer.

An emergency committee set up to handle the wild elephants used electric fences, laid corn trees as bait, and built artificial roads to ensure the elephants took the correct route.

Yunnan deployed more than 25,000 police and staff and 1,500 emergency vehicles to track and feed the elephants and guarantee public safety, said Wan Yong, head of the provincial forestry commission.

More than 150,000 people were evacuated along the migration route and more than 5 million yuan ($771,000) in insurance funds disbursed to cover property damage, he said. The group left its home range far south near the Laos border 16 months ago for a grand food tour across rich farmland bursting with corn, sugarcane, bananas and dragon-fruit in southeastern Yunnan province.

The Chinese public has delighted in the elephants' antics, including parading down city streets, guzzling grain alcohol and dozing en masse in a field.

China's state-controlled media has cast them as the lovable protagonists in a national lesson on conservation. (Agencies)

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