HONG KONG -- A herd of 15 wild Asian elephants in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan traveled nearly 500 kilometers north of their habitat and entered urban areas, causing residents to evacuate. A shortage of food such as bananas, partly due to climate change, is believed to be the reason behind the movement.
According to China Central Television's website and other Chinese media reports, the herd came from a nature reserve near the Myanmar border, and the elephants were in the city of Yuxi near the provincial capital Kunming as of May 30.
The elephants have been pushing gates open with their trunks and breaking into building premises. Total damage to agricultural products, including trampled corn fields, is reportedly at least 6.8 million yuan (about 117 million yen).
Two of the elephants got separated from the herd when they fell asleep after drinking strong distilled liquor found in a farmhouse, and two returned to their original habitat.
Asian elephants are protected in China as a species threatened with extinction.
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