China coaxes its wayward elephants home using drones and banana treats

The elephants, including two born since they’ve been on the road, have travelled over 700km in 16 months, delighting the public but worrying officials

Villagers are ushered inside their homes and a squad of human chaperones helps the 14 elephants pass without any person or animal being injured

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An aerial picture taken on June 24 and released by the Yunnan Forest Brigade shows a migrating herd of wild Asian elephants sleeping in the southwestern province. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:56pm, 4 Aug 2021Updated: 7:26pm, 4 Aug 2021

First, the entire village is shooed indoors, its power supply is cut and finally bananas and other elephant treats are dumped on the opposite side of town to coax the uninvited guests to pass through.

So goes the routine welcome ceremony for China’s wayward herd of 14 wild elephants, whose wandering ways have sparked an unusual operation aimed at steering them home across steep, winding and often populated terrain.

The group left its home range far south near the Laos border 16 months ago for a grand food tour across rich farmland bursting with corn, sugar cane, bananas and dragon fruit in southeastern Yunnan province.

The public has delighted in the elephants’ antics, including parading down city streets, guzzling grain alcohol and dozing en masse in a field.

But it’s a jumbo task for the three dozen Yunnan forestry firefighters charged with shepherding the elephants safely home – including tracking animals at night that can disappear into thick forest and trek up to 30km (18 miles) a day.

It was the furthest north that China’s wild Asian elephants had travelled in recorded times, said Yang Xiangyu, a task force leader.

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