Insurance program helps cover damage by roaming elephants

Since 2011, a total of 94.5 million yuan has been provided to compensate for damage caused by elephants in Pu'er, said Zhou Zhitao, an official with Pu'er's forestry and grassland department.

Yang Hua, an official at the Yunnan provincial forestry and grassland administration, said that to date, a total of 297 million yuan in compensation has been provided in more than 130,000 cases across the province. He did not disclose how much of that was compensation for damage caused by wild elephants.

Listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, Asian elephants are under first-class State protection in China. Thanks to joint protection efforts, the number of wild Asian elephants has reached about 300, up from around 170 in the 1970s.

The roaming herd continues to cause damage around the city of Yuxi, Yunnan.

More recent data was not available, but a previous media release from the Yuxi government said the herd damaged over 56 hectares of crops in the city between April 16 and May 27.

It cited a preliminary estimate that the direct economic losses caused during that time by the herd reached about 6.8 million yuan.

The damage assessment continues, said Xiang Ruwu, head of the department of fauna and flora of the Yunnan provincial forestry and grassland administration, at a recent news conference.

"All people who suffer damage will be compensated once the work is completed," he said.