Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-07-25
A war between humans and elephants is raging in southwestern China's Yunnan province.
 |
| Elephants foraging and drinking water at a scenic spot in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, Feb. 24, 2011. (File photo/Xinhua) |
A war between humans and elephants is raging in southwestern China's Yunnan province.
This year
alone, three people have been killed by wild elephants there and three
elephants have been killed by either pesticides or gunshot.
A villager
from Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, a popular tourist destination
where elephants feature prominently on tours, was detained by police on Sunday
for killing a pregnant wild elephant. The villager, surnamed Wang, opened fire
with a homemade gun on a group of wild elephants that had invaded his land. A
female elephant weighing more than 3 tonnes was later found dead in Wang's fish
pond with a bullet in her head. The cow was carrying a 99-kilogram male calf
and was almost ready to give birth.
On June 26,
two immature bull elephants were found dead with blood oozing from their
mouths, trunks and anuses. Police found pesticides in the stomaches of both and
have not ruled out the possibility that they were poisoned deliberately by
farmers. As many as 16 wild elephants were seen in the area at the end of
November.
Asian
elephants are an endangered species and are protected in China. About 250 to
300 roam Xishuangbanna and other parts of south Yunnan. Bad planning has led to
a fragmented habitat, which means they often intrude into villages, damage
crops and even attack humans.
A villager
died after being attacked while working in his fields in June. His wife
narrowly escaped death thanks to a shed that collapsed, shielding her from
further attacks. There have been at least three elephant attacks in the
vicinity this year. Two women died from such attacks in the area in 2012 and
2013.
The heavily
forested Simao district is an ideal habitat for elephants. About 60 of them are
known to roam the district. Six people have died there and nine have been
injured in elephant attacks since 1999. Farmers are reportedly afraid to
harvest their crops, students have nerve-racking trips to school and local
people go less frequently to the market, due to the lack of any concrete management
systems. Some cannot even sleep in their own houses for fear that hungry
pachyderms will break in and raid their larders.
The number
of wild elephants is on the rise, which is certainly a good thing, but they
pillage or trample crops, tear down trees and houses and are a very real threat
to people's lives.
Simao
forestry bureau attributed 33 deaths and 165 injuries to wild animals, mostly
elephants, from 1991 to 2010. In the whole province, 1,324 deaths and about 390
million yuan (US$63.7 million) of losses have been blamed on wild animals over
the past decade. Such tragedies will become more frequent if the central
government campaign to improve the environment is successful and elephant
numbers increase without any concrete measures to create a suitable habitat for
the animals in areas remote from farming land.
An adult
elephant eats up to 300 kilograms of food each day and drinks a large amount of
water. It walks dozens of kilometers while foraging.
Chen
Mingyong, an elephant expert with Yunnan University, believes that conservation
corridors are key to resolving the conflict between man and beast. Linking the
fragmented habitat with protected corridors will reduce the overlapping space
inhabited by both humans and elephants.
Food source
bases where bamboo and bananas are grown specifically for the elephants will
also help. Most of the harm done comes from the elephants' endless search for
food.
Simao
government spent over 600,000 yuan (US$97,000) last year on an "elephant
canteen" that includes a banana garden, a bamboo forest and a pool. The
provincial government faces mounting compensation bills for damage caused by
the protected animals. The annual cost can run to 10 million yuan (US$1.6
million).
In 2009,
Yunnan contracted China Pacific Insurance Company to insure crops, property and
lives in some regions. The government pays the premiums and the insurers
investigate and compensate people when animals cause trouble.
Li Laoxiao
has tried everything to drive the elephants away from his plantation, but to
very little avail. "Now I just let them eat. I get 15 yuan (US$2.42) for
each damaged rubber tree, and 10 yuan (US$1.61) for a banana tree."
The
commercial mechanism is clearly more effective. Compensation is higher and paid
more quickly, but rumbling discontent persists. In November, 114 villagers from
nine villages in Simao petitioned for better protection and higher
compensation.
Yang Zhengrong
of the insurers' Yunnan branch told Xinhua that the company paid over 81
million yuan (US$13 million) in compensation from 2010 to 2013 but received
less than 48 million yuan (US$7.7 million) in premiums.
"The
compensation mechanism needs to be improved. It is not sustainable in the long
run," Yang said.
No comments:
Post a Comment