When Drones Helped in Tracking Rare Northward Migration of Wild Asian Elephants

The number of Asian elephants in China has increased from around 140 in the 1970s to more than 300 today.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

The rare long-distance northward migration of wild Asian elephants was a major test of the approach, management, and humanistic qualities of wildlife conservation.

Eventually, the northbound wild Asian elephants returned home.

At around 1 am on 10 September, the herd of wild Asian elephants that had been wandering in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province for months returned to its original habitat in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

After traveling a year and a half, the herd crossed the rapid Babian River and went back to their home in Ning’er County via Mojiang County, Pu’er City, in Yunnan Province. It was the longest recorded migration by a herd of wild Asian elephants in China, which attracted massive attention from around the world.

'Here Come the Elephants!'

The Asian elephant is the largest and most representative existing terrestrial vertebrate in Asia. Records show that about 3,000 years ago, Asian elephants once inhabited Yangyuan, Hebei Province, north of the Yellow River in China. As the climate became colder, the mammal gradually moved south due to decreasing habitats. Since the 18th century, most areas of China have seen no trace of the animal.

In 1989, the Asian elephant was designated as an endangered species under first-class state protection in China. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List also categorised the animal as “endangered.”

The wandering Asian elephants take a nap in the woods. Habitually a herd of wild Asian elephants would rest in the shades of a forest when certain members remain awake as guardians. It is rare that all members of a herd of wild Asian elephants go to sleep simultaneously, unless they feel extremely safe.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

Over the years, China has introduced extensive measures to promote biodiversity management. The number of Asian elephants in the country has increased from around 140 in the 1970s to more than 300 today.

In the mid-1990s, Asian elephants were only found in two national nature reserves in Yunnan Province, namely Xishuangbanna and Nangunhe. By the end of 2020, the areas where regular activities of wild Asian elephants were detected had expanded to three prefectures and cities, 11 counties and districts, and 55 townships in Yunnan.

The herd of wild elephants started its northward migration last year. On 15 March 2020, 16 wild Asian elephants left their habitat in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and wandered northward to Simao District and Ning’er County, Pu’er City.

On 15 September 2020, an Asian elephant calf was born after the herd arrived in Mojiang County. On 16 April 2021, the 17 Asian elephants set off from Mojiang and continued to move northward. Two members, however, turned around during the journey.

Then, the rest 15 elephants passed through three prefectures and cities as well as eight counties and districts, reaching as far north as Jinning District in Kunming City, capital of Yunnan Province.

On 10 September 2021, the herd traversed the Babian River and returned to its original habitat. During the migration, both human beings and the elephants stayed safe and sound.

The wandering elephants imaged by an infrared telescope.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

A Normal Trip?

The trip was the farthest-known migration of Asian elephants in China beyond their traditional habitats. The rare occurrence made many question whether the long migration was normal.

15 July 2021: A herd of migrating Asian elephants is filmed by a drone of the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade near Shiyantou Village, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

Chen Fei, director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration’s Asian Elephant Research Center, said that elephants migrate to find new feeding grounds, resources, and habitats, which is conducive to free flow of genes between elephant populations and the mammal’s survival in an ever-changing environment. “As many know, both Asian elephants and African elephants have a habit of long-distance migration,” said Chen.

In fact, long-distance migration of Asian elephants is quite common in other countries. For example, Asian elephants from India have migrated to countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and even arrived in Myanmar in Southeast Asia.

The wild Asian elephants in the Mengyang section of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve frequently move around. The elephants received so much attention this time because they traveled so far.

Yang Hua, vice director of the Animal and Plant Department of Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, said that the number of wild Asian elephants in China has increased to around 300 over the past three decades thanks to growing efforts in protection.

Furthermore, the forest canopy density in nature reserves has been greatly increased. The forest coverage rate of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve has risen from 88 percent in the 1980s to more than 95 percent. Due to lack of sunshine, however, the number of plants under the trees has gradually decreased, including wild bananas and tiger grass, the main food for Asian elephants.

With less edible plants, Asian elephants sometimes wander out of nature reserves and into nearby villages for food. Easy-to-access crops with high calories gradually changed their eating habits. In recent years, people have become more aware of the importance of environmental protection, and Asian elephants have become less afraid of human beings. The elephants felt empowered to leave the nature reserve and migrate northward along farmlands.

This rare long-distance northward migration was a major test of the approach, management, and humanistic qualities of wildlife conservation. To ensure the safety of both elephants and human beings, a great number of people worked around the clock and made big contributions.

Members of the forest fire brigade get ready to fly drones to observe the migrating elephants.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

24/7 Mission

Anxious, frustrated, excited, delighted… Zhang Sijie cycled through every emotion for nearly 100 days with the herd. Zhang led a drone operator team from the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade to track the wild Asian elephants in migration.

It became a routine for the young team members to stay up late and eat and sleep in the wilderness, not to mention travel for long distances. Some lost several kilograms of body weight during these months, but their relentless effort paid off. “When we could account for every elephant and knew no one lost, the exhaustion seemed to melt away.”

A member of the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade talks to a police officer of Yuxi City about using drones to track the migrating wild Asian elephants.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

Before the tracking team was dispatched, local governments and security staff found it hard to obtain real-time information about the location of the elephants. The risk of face-to-face encounters between humans and elephants was high if they tracked the herd on the ground.

When the migrating elephants moved towards E’shan County of Yuxi City, the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade was tasked to monitor them in the wild. “We organised a special team to track the wild Asian elephants as fast as possible,” said Zhang Xiaoqing, an official with the forest fire brigade.

The team was staffed with 58 members and armed with 13 drones, six infrared telescopes, and seven vehicles. Based on the forest fire brigade’s forest firefighting commanding system, they developed a special platform for monitoring the migrating elephants.

With the help of the platform, they established video channels, mapped evidence of elephant movement on a daily basis, and kept monitoring around the clock.

“Information on the herd’s location in relation to surrounding villages coupled with real-time monitoring provided a solid foundation for the team members to evacuate residents early if necessary and feed and guide the elephants without encountering them directly,” said Zhang.

“The elephants are adorable but sometimes act naughtily,” he added. “We feel connected to them. The adult elephants take care of their children, and we take care of them.”

A drone sets out to film the migrating elephants.

(Photo: Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade)

During the trek, the team shifted to more than 200 different places, crossing many mountains and rivers. Sometimes the elephants raised their trunks to greet the drones. Two young elephants were seen playing with each other when bathing. The elephants encountered dogs, chickens, and goats during the migration, and sometimes ate crops such as bananas, sugarcane, and corn planted by villagers.

“Elephants are friends who share the blue planet with humans,” said Zhang Xiong, a squad leader of the drone operator team. “If you smile at them, they will smile back.”

(The content is provided by Beijing-based China-India Dialogue.)