A herd of wild Asian elephants that has wandered through Southwest China's Yunnan province for more than 17 months is seen in Mojiang Hani autonomous county of Pu'er city on Aug 13. Mojiang Hani is one of their major habitats in the province, along with the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
KUNMING -- China will take a slew of measures to further promote the protection of Asian elephants, an official with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) said on Thursday.
Zhang Zhizhong made the comments at a themed event in Mojiang county, in Southwest China's Yunnan province, to celebrate World Elephant Day and call for greater protection of Asian elephants.
The NFGA official said that China will strengthen the protection and restoration of the Asian elephant's habitat and soothe human-elephant conflict by indemnifying villagers against wildlife-related damage and setting up an alert system.
A herd of wild Asian elephants that has wandered through Southwest China's Yunnan province for more than 17 months is seen in Mojiang Hani autonomous county of Pu'er city on Aug 13. Mojiang Hani is one of their major habitats in the province, along with the Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Moreover, the country will establish a stable gene pool for artificial breeding, while conducting international cooperation and exchanges to boost the protection of Asian elephants, Zhang added.
Asian elephants are under first-class state protection in China. There are currently 300 wild Asian elephants in Yunnan and the population continues to grow.
World Elephant Day falls on Aug 12 every year.
