China defuses conflict between elephant and man
Wild Asian elephants move in a field in Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, southwest China.
Conflict between wild elephants and humans continues to worsen, with the giant animals breaking into residential areas, eating crops, damaging houses and threatening people’s lives, and the lives of wild elephants are also often in danger.
While strengthening the protection of wild Asian elephants, the Chinese government has rolled out measures, such as advance warning alarms, monitoring and building food bases for the endangered species, to solve the dilemma of human-elephant conflicts.
Asian elephants are under Class-A protection in China and are mainly in Xishuangbanna and Pu’er in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, bordering Southeast Asia.
Since 1958, Yunnan has established 11 national or regional-level nature reserves in the tropics, covering about 510,000 hectares.
The data released by the Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Administration showed that thanks to better conservation, the population of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan increased from 170 to about 300 over the past three decades.
Food for elephants such as bananas were gradually replaced by woody plants, said Chen Mingyong, a professor with the Asian elephant research center of Yunnan University.
“When they can’t get enough food, elephants will seek nourishment outside the reserves, making conflicts with humans unavoidable,” Chen said, adding that about two-thirds of wild elephants live outside reserves.
From 2011 to 2019, there were more than 4,600 accidents involving wild Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna, resulting in more than 50 casualties, over 8,000 hectares of damaged crops and more than 100 million yuan in insurance compensation.
Human-elephant conflicts are common in Asian countries such as India and Thailand, said Chen, adding that China’s efforts to protect Asian elephants are becoming more and more effective
In China, people’s lives and safety are the top priorities for the government, and so are the elephants.
Yunnan has purchased commercial wild animal insurance covering the entire province. When elephants cause trouble, villagers get compensation.
Xishuangbanna has started to build food bases and plant bananas and bamboo to create a better habitat for the elephants.
