How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?

Chen Fei: How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?

Chen Fei: How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way? Chen Fei: How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?

China news agency, Kunming, June 13 - Question: How rational view of Chinese scientific sample Asian elephant moved north?

Question: How to treat the Chinese samples of Asian elephants moving northward in a rational and scientific way?

Author Chen Fei (Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration of China)

Recently, a group of wild Asian elephants migrated northward from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan to Kunming, which has attracted the attention of the global media
.

"Where are the elephants going" has become a series that the whole world is chasing.

In addition to the public perspective, experts from various parties have discussed the behavior of Asian elephants, habitat suitability, and ecological environment systems
.

Based on the attitude of respecting facts and science, the professional community looks forward to a more rational and scientific view of the 15 Asian elephants moving northward, thinking from the perspective of harmonious coexistence between humans and wild animals, and providing a Chinese sample for global wildlife protection

Is the Asian elephant's northward migration unprecedented?

Is the Asian elephant's northward migration unprecedented?

In fact, both Asian elephants and African elephants have the characteristics of migration
.

Because migration helps to find new feeding places and resources, and helps gene exchange between populations

In India, where Asian elephants are widely distributed, elephant herds will migrate to neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and even to Myanmar
.

This migration is also common in other countries in which Asian elephants are distributed

Studies have shown that Asian elephants distributed in China have always had the habit of migration and proliferation
.

For example, this time the "hometown" of Asian elephants moving north-the Asian elephant distribution area with the Mengyang area of ​​Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve as the core.

Academy of Sciences

Generally speaking, the scope of China's Asian elephants' activities has been continuously expanding, manifested in the four directions of east, west, south, and north
.

In fact, if the time axis is stretched, the Asian elephants in China have been widely distributed in history
.

According to historical records, Asian elephants were distributed in the Yellow River Basin during the Shang Dynasty in China, and the northernmost was distributed to Yangyuan, Hebei

Therefore, the migration of 15 Asian elephants is not a strange event, but the migration distance is farther, which has attracted widespread attention from the mass media
.

In this regard, people should look at it more rationally in light of the species itself

Is the migration of Asian elephants due to severe damage to their habitats?

Is the migration of Asian elephants due to severe damage to their habitats?

This issue once became a hot topic for discussion by many experts and scholars
.

The author believes that the discussion and analysis of habitats should be based on full investigation and combined with historical actual conditions, and a more systematic and comprehensive approach

The distribution of Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna is extremely uneven
.
Among the five areas of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, only Mengyang, Mengla, and Shangyong have fixed elephant populations
.
Currently, most Asian elephants inhabit outside the reserve
.

Some people think that Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve is no longer suitable for Asian elephants to survive, or that because of rubber, Chinese medicine and other reasons, the reserve has caused Asian elephants to leave
.
This is not the case
.
The statutory scope of the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve is all state-owned forests.
The local management department has been strictly in accordance with the protection area regulations to manage it, and has achieved good ecological benefits.
There has been no serious damage to the forest resources in the protection area
.
On the contrary, the increase in forest canopy density in part of the native habitat of Asian elephants has led to a decrease in edible plants under the forest
.
Relevant protection management departments actively adopted the opinions of all parties and adopted a series of habitat restoration and reconstruction measures (such as food source construction, etc.
), which has achieved initial results
.
But this is a long-term and arduous task that requires the parties to continue concerted work together
.

Unite

In addition, both the protected areas and the habitats of Asian elephants are areas set by humans for wild animals
.
For an elephant, as long as it thinks that there is food or is suitable for survival, it will be used as a habitat
.
Regardless of the quality of the forest, Asian elephants like to walk between farmland and forest
.

According to the optimal foraging theory, the foraging behavior of animals is studied from the economic point of view of input/benefit.
Animals search for food or change their foraging behavior under the condition of minimum input and maximum benefit
.
As a generalized diet animal, the Asian elephant has 240 types of food and many crops
.
From ancient times to the present, the phenomenon of Asian elephants eating crops has occurred from time to time, especially in the food shortage season
.
In recent years, humans’ awareness of protecting Asian elephants has gradually strengthened.
Asian elephants have begun to no longer fear humans, and are going out of protected areas more and more frequently to eat crops.
In addition to the increase in the number of Asian elephants, the contradiction has become more prominent.
After all, there are more easily accessible high energy.
Food, who wants to spend a lot of time searching for food?

Therefore, forest change is not the main factor in the overlap between Asian elephants and human production and living space.
It should be combined with the characteristics of species migration, population expansion, and Asian elephant eating habits.
The process of exploration is arduous and long
.

The number of Asian elephants in the world has decreased by 90% over the past 100 years.
Why has China increased instead?

The number of Asian elephants in the world has decreased by 90% over the past 100 years.
Why has China increased instead?

The Asian elephant’s “long journey” reflects the positive results China has achieved in wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation over the past few decades
.

Among them, the most intuitive manifestation is the increase in the population of Asian elephants
.
According to statistics, the number of Asian elephant populations active in Yunnan has increased from about 150 in the 1980s to about 300 now
.
However, from a global perspective, due to illegal hunting and habitat reduction, the number of Asian elephants has decreased by 90% in the past 100 years
.

Furthermore, the scope of activities of Asian elephants in China has expanded from 2 prefectures and 3 counties and cities in the 1990s to 3 prefectures and 12 counties and cities by the end of 2020, which also shows that the areas suitable for the survival of Asian elephants are increasing
.

Studies have found that the long-distance migration of wild animals depends on the connectivity of landscape and environmental conditions
.
Asian elephants are no exception
.
This time, 15 Asian elephants can go all the way north to Kunming to find new habitats unimpeded.
This is also due to some restored forests and farmland replenishment along the way
.

These gratifying changes stem from China's series of fruitful explorations in legal and regulatory protection, Asian elephant habitat protection, population protection, and mitigation of human-elephant conflicts
.
Including the implementation of returning farmland to forests to restore more suitable habitats, the establishment of Asian elephant species breeding bases to carry out shelter and rescue, the planting of food-loving plants, the establishment of elephant "canteens", the establishment of a monitoring and early warning system, raising public awareness of protection and prevention, and improving the mechanism for settlement of accidents.
Actively carry out cross-border joint protection between China and Laos
.

The 15 Asian elephants traveling all the way to the north are safe and safe, thanks to the "escort" of the local government departments all the way
.
Including continuous real-time tracking of the elephant herd with drones, emergency personnel along the way set up food feeding areas including bananas, corn, pineapple and other food for the elephants to prevent the elephants from entering densely populated areas, and set up defense lines and routes to guide the elephants away from the crowd.
Early warning and evacuation of the people in time
.

In the protection and management of the northern elephant group, China has maintained monitoring, timely research and judgment, and precautions in advance.
When necessary, it adopts flexible methods such as blocking and lure, successfully avoiding close encounters and conflicts between humans and elephants, and ensuring the protection of humans and elephants.
Safe
.
This relatively rare long-distance migration of wild elephants is also a relatively rare activity for humans and elephants to live in harmony.
It is also a friendly dialogue between humans and wild animals.
It is a new model for China to explore and resolve the "human-beast conflict"
.

From a more macro perspective, we also need to conduct longer-term systematic planning and overall planning in terms of territorial planning and engineering construction
.
On the one hand, the existing protected areas cannot cover all the habitats of elephants, and it is necessary to more scientifically delineate the habitats of Asian elephants
.
On this basis, we will further promote the construction of the Asian Elephant National Park, restore and provide suitable habitats for elephants from the scale of the land and landscape, and guarantee the management system, mechanism, and funds for the special protection of Asian elephants
.
On the other hand, it is also necessary to further increase regional or international cooperation, match the scale of species protection, improve cross-border ecosystems, and build cross-border Asian elephant habitats from multiple angles and channels
.

At present, from a global perspective, Asian elephant protection is faced with various degrees of loss and fragmentation of habitats, inbreeding behaviors leading to disease inheritance and spread, and increased human elephant conflicts
.
Various countries in the distribution of Asian elephants are gradually improving the legal provisions related to the protection and management of Asian elephants, improving protection and management measures, a variety of scientific and technological monitoring equipment has been continuously put into use, and protection publicity and education are gradually gaining popularity
.
It is hoped that all countries can join hands to win more resources and provide more feasible plans for the protection of Asian elephants
.
It is hoped that this global vision "elephant" action can provide synergy for global wildlife protection
.

Expectation, all expectation is not just expectation
.
(Finish)

Chen Fei, Director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration
.
Mainly engaged in the research of Asian elephants, their habitats, and biodiversity
.