Learning to live with elephants

There are many videos of wild elephants feasting on farmland crops on Lyu Kebo's cellphone. As an insurance specialist from China Pacific Property Insurance's Xishuangbanna branch, Lyu often has to inspect the aftermath of the farmland destroyed by the elephants to determine the exact economic losses.

"It's easy to tell the work of the wild elephants because nothing is left standing in the field after their visit. No people or other animals can cause such damage," Lyu said.

He added that because of the warning systems, there have rarely been any incidents of elephants attacking people causing injuries or even death.

Since Feb 23, protocols on restoring the Asian elephants' habitats, elephant rescue, reintroducing rescued elephants to the wild, and the construction of the warning system have been introduced in Yunnan.

These protocols can offer technical support for better protecting Asian elephants and further increasing their population in China, said Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

To enhance the protection of Asian elephants, Yunnan is pushing for the construction of a national park for them in 2022, Chen said.

According to a plan for the national park, the primary objectives are to protect the area's tropical rainforests, enhance conservation efforts for the Asian elephant population and their habitats, and mitigate conflicts between humans and elephants.

"Unlike other wild animals, the elephants need a complex ecosystem consisting of the rainforest and farmland because they are so used to living around villages and people. How we can ensure harmonious coexistence between humans and the Asian elephants will always be an issue," Chen said.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn