Not a wild goose chase, but so far nearly as futile: Equipped with nine drones, 360 people and 76 vehicles, Chinese authorities are working to locate a runaway herd of 15 Asian elephants that has been roaming since late last year.
The elephants, possible induced by loss of edible plants in the reserve they left behind, are eating their way toward the provincial capital of Kunming, population eight million. From their home, the only remaining natural habitat of Asian elephants in China, they’ve wandered 300 miles across Yunnan province.
Along the way, they’re said to have destroyed 56 hectares of crops, and gotten drunk on alcohol they found at a villager’s home. They have escaped capture so far, have evaded roadblocks and caused evacuations of towns along the way. It’s not clear that they have any real idea where they are headed: a specialist has speculated that the matriarch of the group is ‘lacking in experience and led the whole group astray.
They are among only about 300 Asian elephants known to be in China, up from half that a few decades ago, but few are in the wild, as these are. They are a red-list endangered species, and status they share with China’s giant pandas.
