First, the entire village is shooed indoors, its power supply is cut, and finally bananas and other elephant treats are dumped on the opposite side of town to coax the uninvited guests to pass through.
China's wayward herd of 14 wild elephants left home 16 months ago for a grand food tour across rich farmland in Yunnan provinceDAQIAO - First the entire village is shooed indoors, its power supply is cut, and finally bananas and other elephant treats are dumped on the opposite side of town to coax the uninvited guests to pass through.
Using drones to keep tabs on the animals, they sleep out in the subtropical air or in their vehicles. Power supplies are cut to prevent the elephants from electrocuting themselves or sparking fires, and vehicles are parked across roads behind the herd or on side routes to keep them moving forward, preferably south.
Mud is employed as sunscreen, they may fashion a crude"sunhat" out of vegetation, and their dexterous trunks can turn on a faucet, open a door, or lift covers off water wells for a drink, Yang said.AFP | Hector RETAMAL But the elephants, which can weigh up to four tons and sprint as fast as Usain Bolt, are also extremely dangerous, particularly if they sense a threat to their young.Two of them who earlier broke for home trampled a villager to death in March, said Chen Mingyong, a Yunnan University elephant-behaviour expert attached to the task force. The fatality appears not to have been reported.
Researchers are particularly stumped over why the skilled navigators made a nearly straight beeline for Kunming before angling back south a couple months ago."There have been many behaviours for which we previously have not had sufficient data."They've travelled more than 700 kilometres, Yang said, and though now pointed homeward, still have several hundred more to go.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID-19 | China mass testing shows virus cases at six-month highChina on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months.
Read more »
In China, pigs are being bred in 13-storey ‘hog hotels’High-rise blocks can cut farmland use by a third compared with traditional farms with the same number of pigs
Read more »
Investors fret nothing is safe in China crackdown as Naspers sheds R100bnNaspers shares fall as much as 7%, the most in a week, following Tencent’s drop in Hong Kong after criticism from China
Read more »
MARKET WRAP: China tech blows take shine off otherwise bright JSEBanks fared best on the day, with Capitec leading gains in the sector
Read more »
Wuhan to test 'all residents' as Covid-19 returns after tourism boomThe city of Zhangjiajie has become 'the new ground zero for China's epidemic spread'.
Read more »
CHRIS GILMOUR: Tencent, the CCP and bad demographicsThe ‘economic miracle’ is unwinding rapidly, and China’s rulers don’t know how to confront it 🔒
Read more »