Swamped elephant rescued in Yunnan

As crops have matured lately, 104 elephants have been found in the Simao district of Yunnan province, according to the authorities.

Li Yingqing and Chen Meiling

Li Yingqing and Chen Meiling

China Daily

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A wild Asian elephant trapped in a reservoir in a resident's yard was saved recently in the Simao district of Pu'er, Yunnan province. [Photo provided by Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration/For chinadaily.com.cn]

September 26, 2022

BEIJING – A wild Asian elephant trapped in an impound reservoir was saved recently.

“At around 5 am on Sunday, we received a call from a resident saying that several elephants were near the house, and the dog kept barking,” said Chen Zhiyu, director of the forestry service center of Liushun town in the Simao district of Pu’er, Yunnan province.

A wild Asian elephant trapped in a reservoir in a resident’s yard was saved recently. [Photo provided by Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Chen sent workers to check. When they arrived, an elephant was found struggling in an impound reservoir — a round pool with concrete sides — in water as deep as 2.6 meters. It could not get out by itself and was drowning.

“We considered two plans at first, one to pump the water away and another to use an excavator. However, the ground was too wet and muddy after rain, so we had to adopt a third plan — breaking the concrete wall of the reservoir with a sledgehammer.”

A wild Asian elephant trapped in a reservoir in a resident’s yard was saved recently. [Photo provided by Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration/For chinadaily.com.cn]

The elephant, an adult male weighing at about 2.5 metric tons, finally climbed out through the broken part.

“It stood there and stared at us for about 2 minutes after getting out. It seemed that it wanted to say thank you,” Chen said.

As crops have matured lately, 104 elephants have been found in the town, according to the Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration.

A wild Asian elephant trapped in a reservoir in a resident’s yard was saved recently. [Photo provided by Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration/For chinadaily.com.cn]

A wild Asian elephant trapped in a reservoir in a resident’s yard was saved recently. [Photo provided by Simao Forestry and Grassland Administration/For chinadaily.com.cn]

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