[InKunming--Yunnan] On the evening of April 7, a wild Asian elephant strayed into Simao district of Pu’er city in Yunnan, walking through Simao district park, Chayuan road, Manlian village, South Coach Station of Pu’er, etc.

As the We-chat video showing, a medium-sized elephant hovered on the edge of Simao city, and sometimes even bothered villagers nearby. Fortunately, the elephant was just hanging around, and did not hurt people at all.

To ensure the safety of the wild elephant and citizens, the local forest police used unmanned aerial vehicle to monitor the elephant’s whereabouts in real time, and they estimated that it was an underage elephant which somehow left the forest and strayed into the city, and was unable to find food and lost its way.

At 4:50 am on April 8, the elephant finally returned to forest under the escort of the drone. According to the forest police, it is possible for this elephant to come back again for finding food. People are not encouraged to go to the viewing platform of Tea Mountain (茶山) where the elephant likely appear in the near future.

As the video spreading widely online, netizens hoped the solitary elephant would return safely to the forest and no one would be injured. Some netizens also warned that wild elephants are dangerous. If encountered accidentally, people should not watch, provoke, frighten or chase wild animals. They should observe the surrounding environment and leave the scene as soon as possible.

As the current tracking records, Xishuangbanna prefecture and Pu’er city are the most frequent areas of Asian elephants' appearance. There are 104 wild eggplants in Pu’er city which has more than 70% forest coverage, forming a strong attraction to elephants and other wild animals.

Click here to view Chinese report

(Editors: Christine, Rachel)