Anabundanceofrareanimalsinhabitsthetropicalrainforest,ofwhichthewildAsianelephantisthemostfamousspecies.TheflagshipanimalevenwonXishuangbannathereputationofbeingthe“elephantprefecture”inancientChina.Today,theworld’stwomajorspeciesofelephantsaredistinguishedbytheirnativecontinents:AsiaandAfrica.Withanestimatedwildpopulationofbetween30,000and50,000,theAsianelephantisdistributedacross13Asiancountries,includingChina.Statisticsshowthatabout300wildAsianelephantslivedinChinain2015,ofwhich250werelocatedinXishuangbanna.WildElephantValley,onespecificscenicspotinXishuangbannaNationalNatureReserve,ishometoabout70.
ObservationandProtection
OnanordinarydayinJuly2016,itwasstiflinglyhotdespitethetoweringtreesshieldingpeoplefromthesun’sdirectrays.Thelightstillfilteredthroughthedensebranchesandleaves.
“Keepsilent,”whisperedYanHanlu,headoftheAsianObservationandProtec-tionCenter.“Don’tmakeasound.”
YanthenpointedtowardsagroupofwildAsianelephantsrelaxinganddrinkingfromariverjust20metersaway.
Hequicklyscribbledanotereading,“At11:30a.m.,26wildAsianelephantswerespotted:oneadultmale,fiveadolescentmales,fourcalves,tenadultfemalesandsixadolescentfemales.”Hewassothrilledtoseesuchalargegroupthathiswritingwasespeciallyillegible.
WildElephantValley,locatedintheMengyangzisectionoftheXishuangbannaNationalNatureReserve,firstlaunchedeffortstoprotectthewildAsianelephantinthelate1980s.Then,governmentalagenciesbeganplacingsaltatriverbankstheelephantsfrequented.Wildelephantsneedsaltandothermineralsthatareoftenhardtocomebyintheirnaturalenvironment.
In1991,theXishuangbannaNatureConservationBureaucreatedobservationpostsinWildElephantValleytoconductscientificobservations.Later,whenthevalleybecameaforestparkforwildelephantviewing,breedingandresearch,manyagenciesinvolvedinelephantprotectionmovedintothevalley.TheAsianElephantObservationandProtectionCenter,establishedinJune2005,isoneofthem.YanHanluandhiscoworkers’regularroutineincludestrackingandmonitoringwildelephantherdsaswellasissuingalertsandwarningtourists.“Manytouristswanttogetascloseaspossibletotheelephants,”Yanremarks.“Wearenotonlyresponsiblefortheirsafety,butalsoforpreservingtheelephants’domain.Noviewingshoulddisturbtheelephants’everydaylives.”AnemployeeattheAsianElephantBreedingandRescueCentershowersoffacalfwhohasjustreturnedfromsearchingforfoodinthewild.Thelovelycreature,namedMingMing,isusuallythequiettype.However,ifitgetsexcited,itcanturnverynaughty.
AgroupofwildAsianelephantsrelaxingandplayingattheriverbank.Generallyspeaking,wildAsianelephantsseldomattackhumansunlesstheirterritoryisinvadedortheyfeelthattheircalvesarethreatened.ReproductionandRescue
AlongsidetheAsianElephantObservationandProtectionCenter,theAsianElephantBreedingandRescueCenterisalsobasedinthevalley.
BaoMingwei,aveterinarianatthebreedingandrescuecenter,isknownforhisskillatdeliveringanestheticsbyblowingthemthroughapipe.Usinghislongblowpipe,hecansedateawildAsianelephantfromtenmetersawaysospecialistscantreatandhelpit.In2007,BaoandhiscoworkersfoundasickadultfemaleAsianelephantinthewild,whichtheynamedPingPing.Shehadcontractedasevereinfectionaroundherhipandwasnearingdeath.Waryofattackbymembersofherherd,BaoandhiscolleaguessedatedPingPingwiththepipe-blownanestheticandimmediatelytreatedheron-site.Withintwoweeks,Baoandotherexpertshadformulatedatreatmentplanandsuccessfullyperformedsurgery.
Alongwithrescuingwoundedwildelephants,thebreedingandrescuecenteralsorehabilitatedfourelephantsthathadbeenusedtosmuggledrugs.TheywereseizedbyChina’sbordercontrol.“Foreigndrugdealersfedthesepoorthingsdrugsinthehopeofconcealingandtraffickingthem,”explainedarepresentativeofthebreedingandrescuecenter.“ThefourelephantsweresenttoHainanProvinceforrehabilitationbeforebeingreturnedtoXishuangbanna.”Duringtheirstayatthecenter,workerswalkedthefourelephantsthroughtheforeststosearchforfoodeveryday,alongwithotherelephants.“Wecouldn’tjustlockthemup,”addsBao.“Theyneedmoresupervisedtimeintheirnaturalenvironmentbeforetheyarereadytosurviveinthewild.”
Acalfinwater.Asianelephantshaveasimilarlifeexpectancytohumansandstopgrowingaroundtheageof30.LongRoadAhead
Asianelephantsfacethesamepersistentthreatstheyhavefacedforyearsworldwide:humandevelopmentandtheivorytrade.
Humandevelopmentsteadilyencroachesonelephanthabitat,pushingthemout.Compoundingtheproblem,thegradualshrinkingoftropicalrainforestshasfurtherexacerbatedhabitatloss,forcingelephantstoventureoutofforestsinsearchoffood,intoareasinhabitedbyhumans.
Despiteinternationaleffortstoendit,theivorytraderemainsrampantglobally,andaswellascausingaseriousgenderimbalance,ithaseveninfluencedtheanimal’sgenetics.InareversalofDarwin’s“survivalofthefittest,”adultmaleelephantswiththemostbeautifultuskshavethehardesttimesurviving.Sinceadultmaleswithsmallorevenabsenttuskssurvivemoreeasily,thedominanttuskgeneisgraduallydisappearing.Atpresent,thisexternalpressurehasresultedinanabsenceoftheiconicincisorsinatleasthalfoftheglobalmaleAsianelephantpopulation.Andthemale-femaleratioofAsianelephantsworldwidesitsatastaggering1:12.
Asianelephantshaveapproximatelythesamelifeexpectancyashumansandstopgrowingataboutage30.Alsolikehumans,femalesusuallygivebirthtoonlyasingleoffspringperpregnancyandreachsexualmaturityintheirteenyears.Thislonglifecyclemakesthreatstothespecies’populationevenmorechallengingtoface.
Foryears,theXishuangbannaNationalNatureReservehasbeenmakingtremendouseffortstopreservewildAsianelephants.Toreducehuman-elephantconflict,thenaturereservehasreducedtraditionalrubberplantationsthroughdevelopingcommercialagarwoodforests,andlaunchedprojectssuchasbiologicalisolationbeltsandelephantfoodbases.Moreover,acomprehensiveobservationnetworkforwildAsianelephantshasbeenestablished.Morethan40observationspotshavebeensetupacrossthenaturereserve,whereprofessionalsidentifyandtrackindividualelephantsandcollectdata.
Complementingstrictinternationalbansontheivorytrade,thenaturereservehascarriedoutextensiveinternationalcooperationinrecentyears.Largeareasforelephantprotectionhavebeendesignatedalongborderareas.By2015,ChinaandLaoshadjointlydesignatedfivezonesforjointelephantprotectionwithatotalareaof200,000hectares.