"Xinhua Daily Telecom" Focusing on: Chinese wild elephant ushered in "baby tide"

Author:Yunnan released Time:2022.08.12

August 12

Is the 11th World Elephant Day

"Xinhua Daily Telecom" Focus on Yunnan Asian Elephant

Love Elephant · Sui

Diao Fuxing uses drone monitoring group, not far away, Asian elephant is foraging

August 12 is the 11th World Elephant Day. In the Jiangcheng Hani and Yi Autonomous County of Jiangcheng, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, Asian elephant monitors "moved with the image" day and night. The 47 -year -old Diao Fuxing is one of them.

Every day, before the villagers go out, Diao Fuxing confirms the location of the elephant group near the village. "Elephant is very spiritual. It can feel people's goodwill, so when it is closer to people, we will not be afraid. But we still hope that the villagers should keep a distance from the wild elephant to ensure safety."

For many years, he is familiar with all the local elephants, and he also named each elephant. In recent years, the number of local elephants has been increasing. Each time a small elephant was born, Diao Faxing was like a family. "Although more elephants have increased the workload, it also shows that we are well protected." Diao Fa said proudly.

In Jiangcheng County, a total of 10 elephant monitors like Diao Faxing. They are familiar with the character, diet, action route, and health of each elephant, and uninterrupted monitoring, tracking, observing elephant groups in 24 hours, and "traveling" with the elephant to guard the elephant.

Diao Faxing (right) Wild elephant near the village

In the early morning, Diao Faxing (right) used the drone to confirm the Asian image location near the village

Diao Fuxing reported to the Asian image location

Diao Fuxing is observing the elephant group

Diao Fuxing's trend of reporting in the presence

Chinese wild elephant ushered in "baby tide"

"The two ends born to the north on the north are fat, and this year, the elephant group had another small elephant ..." said Guo Xianming, an elephant expert. In just over a year, the group of stars in Yunnan added Ding 3 times, which surprised and surprised him.

The elephant group enters the peak of fertility. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, the West Shuangdian Na Naogu employees monitored and found that the four elephants in the four elephants in the wild elephant valley had 6 freshmen; several elephant groups in Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City have continued to increase in recent years. Four small elephants have been added this year ... the front -line monitor feedback, the event in the Wild Asian elephant group in Xishuangbanna and Pu'er. In recent years, almost every elephant group has a baby born every year.

Foraging in a village in a village in Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province

Synchronous monitoring shows that as of the end of 2021, the number of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan was about 360 heads, an increase of 60 heads over 293 in 2018. The data confirmed that the Chinese wild elephant ushered in the "baby tide".

Asian elephants are the flagship species of the largest terrestrial animals in Asia's existing existing body and tropical forest ecosystems. They are listed as a national key protection wildlife by China and evaluated by the World Nature Protection Alliance as "endangered" species. In China, wild Asian elephants are mainly distributed in the three states of Xishuangna, Pu'er and Lincang in Yunnan.

"Asian elephant is the longest animal in terrestrial mammals." Guo Xianming, director of the Institute of Science Research, the National Nature Reserve of Yunnan Xishuang Nature, said that elephant is generally 20 to 22 months. After the birth of the young elephant, it was fed from breast milk to three or four years old until the mother elephant was pregnant again, so its natural growth rate was not high.

Xiangqun foraged in the mountains and forests of Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province

"The continuous strengthening of protection and reduced human interference are important reasons for the increase in the birth rate of Chinese Asian elephants in recent years." Chen Mingyong, a professor at the School of Ecology and Environment of Yunnan University, said that Yunnan has strengthened and restored the protection and recovery of Asian pictographs, strengthened monitoring and early warnings, safety prevention prevention The construction of the emergency response system effectively reduces the "humanistic conflict".

In the field of wild elephants, although wild elephants may destroy crops, the villagers still have goodwill and tolerance for wild elephants. The 43 -year -old Wang Chuan family is in the old village of Manka, Kangping Town, Jiangcheng County. At present, there are two groups and 12 wild elephant activities around the village, including the newly born "baby elephant". "When the villagers saw the wild elephant coming, they stayed from a distance, not to disturb them, and did not drive away the wild elephant." Wang Chuan said, "If the wild elephant destroys food and farmland, the government purchased by the government Woolen cloth."

The increase in the number of wild elephants is also one of the reasons why wild elephants ushered in the "baby tide". As the number of Asian elephants grows upward, there are many female and male wild individuals who enter the sexual maturity period. The population structure is healthy and conducive to reproduction.

China fully considers the Asian elephant migration corridor in the new infrastructure to avoid poor population communication. At the beginning of the design of the Chinese -Laos Railway, the relevant agencies investigated the distribution of wild elephants and its migration channels. The line plan avoided the main activity area of the wild elephant. Some roads also provide migration channels for Asian elephants in culverts and bridges.

Asian elephant food sources are continuously enriched, and shortening of feeding cycles and pregnancy also contribute to increased fertility. Chen Mingyong said that the Asian elephant "recipes" expanded from more than 100 foods in the 1980s to more than 240 types today. They especially prefer nutritional "fine grains" such as corn, rice, sugar cane. Concentrated, convenient feeding, the time spent by Asian elephant feeding is greatly shortened, and more time is used to play, communicate and reproduce. Long -term monitoring also found that some wild elephants will give birth in about 18 months of pregnancy, showing a trend of shortening during pregnancy.

Xiangqun passed through a village in Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province

Experts interviewed by Chen Mingyong and Guo Xianming believe that in the situation where the total number of Asian elephants around the world is decreasing, the Chinese wild Asian elephant ushered in the "baby tide", which is a direct manifestation of the regional ecological environment and the continuous improvement of Asian elephants protection.It is the iconic result of the construction of China's ecological civilization and the protection of biological diversity.At the same time, the continuous growth of wild elephants has also brought new tests to the protection management of Asian elephants and promoting phenomenon harmony.In this regard, China is planning to build the Asian Elephant National Park in Yunnan.Chen Mingyong said: "National Park will take more scientific and powerful measures to protect wild elephants and their habitats, and promote harmonious coexistence of people and elephants."

Xiangqun passed through a village in Jiangcheng County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province