Weeks after a group of 15 wild Asian elephants embarked on a mysterious journey in SW China's Yunnan province, there still isn't a thread giving their latest update. In light of this, allow me to fill in the blank using the hashtag #followtheelephants
2) #followtheelephants A quick recap. The journey actually began in March 2020, when 16 wild Asian elephants left the XiShuangBanNa National Reserve and began their journey north. In July, the pack was observed in Pu'er City and caused 1 death in Simao district.
3) #followtheelephants In Dec. 2020, the pack moved north to Mojiang Co., and here the pack added a baby elephant. On April 16, 2021, the 17 elephants moved to Yuanjiang Co. On the 24th, 2 elephants turned South toward Mojiang Co.
4) #followtheelephants On May 16, the 15 elephants entered Shiping Co. On May 24, 14 of the elephants arrived at E'Shan Co. and the remaining elephant caught up 1 day later. On May 29, the pack moved into Hongta District, On June 2, they entered Jin'Ning District of Kunming.
5) #followtheelephants This is a VERY rough graph of the elephant's path, just to give you an idea. The direct distance between their starting point and where they are now is over 500 km (313 miles), but the actual distance they've covered is much greater. 
6) #followtheelephants Due to persistent efforts by local authorities, the pack has for now stopped moving north into more densely populated areas. Their latest location ( 1650, June 6 local time) is in Xiyang town of Jin'Ning Co.
7）#followtheelephants a cctv footage showed an elephant breaking into a farmers home on June 5. No one was hurt during the breaking & entering
8）#followtheelephants my colleagues took these drone footages of the elephants from Kunming on June. 4. Check them out!
9) #followtheelephants Currently the local authorities are mostly working on 3 things, monitoring the pack and sent out warnings to those in their path, blocking their paths and preventing them from entering densely populated areas, and luring them away w/ food.
10) #followtheelephants There are currently no plan to tranquilize the animals and transporting them back to Xishuangbanna, as there is no precedent for doing this on such a big scale, and it would pose a great risk for the animals as well as humans.
11) #followtheelephants The elephants are currently here (June 7), in XiYang town (in red circle), about 90 km SW of Kunming metro region, across the famed Dian Lake.
12) #followtheelephants the dilemma of reserve protection. According to some experts, 1 of the reasons for the exodus may be that the reserve they dwelled in was protected "too well". As the forests became denser, the vegetation the elephants survive on dwindle, forcing them out
13) #followtheelephants XiYang town, the herd's current location, saw pouring rain on June 6, and a temperature drop. This reduced the mobility of the herd, infrared cameras captured the herd huddling together for warmth.
14) #followtheelephants On the 6th, on-site command mobilized 440 man-time, 115 emergency vehicle-time, flew 14 drones, and 150 guiding vehicle-time
15) #followtheelephants Adding to the complexity of the issue, the College Entrance Examination falls on 7/8th, which is THE most important test 4 chn students. On-site Command is under immense pressure to prevent the elephants from disrupting traffic & campuses
16) #followtheelephants this widely circulating tiktok video shows 2 baby elephants almost falling into a roadside ditch
17) #followtheelephants latest on the elephants. The herd showed little signs of movement on June 7 and is remaining in XiYang township. One male elephant strayed about 4 km from the rest, all 15 are safe and sound.
18) #followtheelephants photos of the pack released on June 7 by Yunnan Forest Fire Department. That looks like a real nice nap they are having;)
19）#followtheelephants Drone footages taken today of the herd chillin'. Hope they are having a good time😁 courtesy of my colleague Sun Min in Yunnan.
20) #followtheelephants while we wait for today's update (rumor has it they are on the move), allow me to address an issue brought up by Professor @Dali_Yang. whether the elephants were forced to leave Xishuangbanna because rainforests were converted to rubber/coffee plantations
21) #followtheelephants For this I turned to my colleague Li Huaiyan, who has monitored elephant conservation for more than a decade in Yunnan, plus a little digging into the archives, here's what I found.
22) #followtheelephants Rubber acreage in Yunnan saw fast expansion during the 2000s amid the rubber boom fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PRUBBUS…. But after price tanked in 2011, rubber acreage steadied in the 2010s m.fx361.com/news/2019/0820…)
23) #followtheelephants seizing on the momentum, local authorities have taken steps to reforest illegal rubber plantations m.yunnan.cn/system/2018/08…. In the meantime, the area of the reservation has expanded in the 2010s.
24) #followtheelephants According to a 2016 report, the reservation area in Xishuangbanna expanded over 1 mln mu (165,000 acres) in the years leading up to 2016. wenming.cn/ll_pd/stwm/201…
25) #followtheelephants Though less encroaching took place, large swaths of rubber farms circling the reservations created another risk, which was cutting off the elephants' migration paths, restraining them to "ecological islands" chaliyi.com/article/392685…
26) #followtheelephants Along with the fact that increasing forest canopy density of these ecological islands resulted in food shortages for the elephants baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=170110373… wild elephants have ventured out of the forest more frequently in recent years.
27) #followtheelephants Having realized the problem, there have been efforts to restore the corridors.eedu.org.cn/news/resource/… IMOH, the rubber farms may have played a role in the exodus, but not because it was replacing the rainforest as asserted by a widely circulating post
28) #followtheelephants It's worth noting that experts are still uncertain that dwindling food source was in fact the MAIN reason for the journey of this particular herd. The head elephant has simply gotten lost has also been raised as a plausible hypothesis.
29) #followtheelephants finally the update for June 8 is out. The herd slightly moved SW for 1.8 km and remains in XiYang township, the lone elephant is some 10 km to the herd's NW. There are some thunderstorms in the region but no personal/elephant injuries reported.
30) #followtheelephants today 775 man-times, 304 vehicles, and 16 drones were mobilized. Villagers of surrounding villages were also evacuated in fear of casualties caused by lone elephants.
31) #followtheelephants capping today's update with a photo, credit goes to “北迁亚洲象群安全防范工作省级指挥部”. Anyone wanna take a crack at translating this?
32) #followtheelephants making the rounds on CN social media is an article titled "This huge event in SW China has grabbed the word's attention". It chimed that the 15 elephants, instead of cn media, came to the forefront of telling a good CN story🤣 mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ovMPldLJiJAS…
33) #followtheelephants the pack seems to have moved further west sometime around midnight June 8. By 11 am June 9 local time, they are resting at Shijie township, Yimen Co, Yuxi City. The lone elephant is now at An'Ning, Kunming city. As usual, all is well.
34) #followtheelephants hand drew a map showing where's where. The pack moved from XiYang to ShiJie, which is about 10 km apart, the lone elephant is somewhere in An'Ning, Kunming is across the big lake in the NE corner.
35) #followtheelephants By 5pm June 9, the pack moved some 3.7km to the SW but remains in ShiJie township. The lone male (in pic) has parted w/ the pack for 4 days and is now 12km away, in a wooded area in An'Ning. All is well
36) #followtheelephants why are the #elephants so captivating for the CN public? Besides the obvious cuteness, there are 3 other factors. 1st, the mystery. scientists are still perplexed about why they left their reserve, and where they are headed, so there's ample suspense.
38) #followtheelephants 2nd, people are genuinely curious about wild Asian elephants, what they like to eat, what they like to do, how they interact, and so on, that's why people marveled at the elephants when they became drunk on fermented grain or sling mud on themselves.
39) #followtheelephants 3rd, people are concerned about the well-being of the elephants. Initially, there has been a lot of speculation that their reserve was encroached on by farming, but as we learn more about Yunnan's conservation efforts, we now know that's not the case.
40) #followtheelephants This has definitely been a good educational opportunity for the public to learn about an endangered species, and to raise awareness about wildlife conservation. I hope this national sensation could translate to more resources for wildlife protection
41) #followtheelephants By 8 pm, June 10, the herd didn't move much and remains in ShiJie township, Yuxi City, the lone male is also staying put, some 11.8 km to the NE. 155 heavy-duty trucks, 9 excavators, 206 emergency vehicles, 11 drones deployed. 8k+ people evacuated.
42) #followtheelephants never before seen images of the elephants released by @XHNews, showing an elephant chasing a person down the road, super tense!
43) #followtheelephants the pack moved 8.12 km SW on June 11 and remains in ShiJie township. The lone male is in southern AnNing town, about 16 km away. Things are slightly more complicated, as the pack is inching toward ChuXiong prefecture, which just had a 5.1-degree earthquake
44) #followtheelephants as China enters the dragon boat festival, more people are drawn to the elephants, hoping to get a glimpse, creating further risks. 230 trucks, 9 excavators, 212 emergency vehicles, 17 drones deployed, 2.5 tonnes of food & two barrels of saltwater served.
45) #followtheelephants The herd continued to dawdle in ShiJie township on June 12th, while the lone male moved 6.15 km to the South, and is now 14.3 km away from the herd in JinNing District, Kunming City. All is well
46) #followtheelephants The herd didn't move much on June 13, sleeping through much of the day on top of a hill, only to come down from the hill to feed around midnight. The lone #elephant is 16 km away, and it's now 8 days since he left the rest.
47) #followtheelephants How are local authorities preventing the #elephants from entering populous areas? Mostly physical barriers formed by heavy-duty trucks (kudos to the truck drivers who are on 24/7 standby), ditches & bullhorns. Also use food to lure them away.
48) #followtheelephants #Yunnan authorities also announced June 13 the process for compensating economic losses caused by the elephants have begun. in the past 41 days, more than 400 farming households have suffered loss, mostly because of trampled crops.
49) #followtheelephants victims do not need to be insured to claim compensation. From 2014 to 2020, 173 mln Yuan (23mln USD) was paid out as compensation for damages caused by wild #elephants. There have been calls to raise compensation standards, amount this time unclear.
50) #followtheelephants 50th tweet of the thread! (Will I make it to 100?) For this special tweet, I give you never-before-seen footage of the #Yunnan #elephants bathing, fighting, chilling, & more! 🐘🐘🐘
51) #followtheelephants On June 14th, the herd continued to dwell in ShiJie township. Report says they mostly stay in densely wooded areas and only venture out to feed. The lone male is 17.4 km away. With the herd staying put & dragon boat festival, only 96 personnel were on duty
52) #followtheelephants Reporting as of July 17th, the pack is still in ShiJie township. After days of resting, they are becoming more active. The lone male is 18.8 km away to the East.
53) #followtheelephants Introducing Shen Qingzhong, a senior scientist following the pack to study their feces. According to Shen, this study serves 3 purposes: learn if the #elephants are healthy, what they eat, and discover their hereditary relationship.
54) #followtheelephants Carrying a plastic bag and a stick, Shen makes an initial observation on-site and sometimes takes specimen back to his lab for further analysis. "Normally they don't stink, but lately they've been eating too much corn, so the dung is a little smelly."
55) #followtheelephants #elephantfollower II Besides scientists, an army of bloggers were on the pack's tails, hoping to make some quick cash by uploading live footage of the #elephants. The venture is as laborious as it is dangerous, but not necessarily rewarding
56) #elephantfollower This article mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GnQ3mOTo0Ymg… says during their 1 encounter w/ the #elephants, the bloggers were paralyzed w/ panic. Ironically, 1 of the most successful segments, involving a blogger eating elephant-trampled pineapples, was slammed for poor taste.
57) #followtheelephants #Elephants on the move! After 9 days of rest in ShiJie township, the pack has moved West and entered Dalongtan township, E'Shan Co. of YuXi City by 9:48 pm June 17. The lone male is in An'Ning city, 24.7 km away from the rest.
58) #followtheelephants On June 19th, the herd moved 3km SW and remains in Dalongtan township. The lone male is still in An'ning city, 25km away. Judging by the past two days, the #elephants may be inching toward home?
59) #followtheelephants check out this cool pic of the #elephants climbing terraces today. Piece of cake! sorry about the resolution, this is a screenshot of a video I wasn't able to download.
60) #followtheelephants The pack is taking it slow this Sunday, moving less than 300 m. The lone male is 24.3km away, in a wooded area in Jin'ning district.
61) #followtheelephants The pack must really like ShiJie township, where they dwelled for more than a week. On June 21 they moved N 9.3 km to some wooded areas in Shijie. Taskforce readout says numerous villages scattered along their path, posing challenges to safety.
62) #followtheelephants Lone male 24.6 km away from the pack, resting in Jin'ning district, Kunming. The National Forestry and Grassland Administration has dispatched a team to lead the task force in monitoring the #elelphants. Worth noting only 100 kg of food was offered
63) #followtheelephants On June 22, the pack is zigzagging, moving 11.2 km south, returning to Dalongtan township of E'shan Co. The lone male is still in Jin'ning district, 30 km NE of the pack.
64) #followtheelephants With the pack crossing county lines like this, I imagine it must have created a coordination headache for local governments. Now officials of 4 Co. level administrative regions of Jin'ning, An'ning, Yimen, and E'shan are all on standby
65) #followtheelephants On June 23, the pack moved S 15 km, but remains in Dalongtan township. The lone male is 32.5 km to the NE. Due to rain, monitoring & tracking is difficult. The lone male is reportedly becoming more active, posing higher risks to surrounding villages.
66) #followtheelephants June 24, the pack moved S. 23 km, went past 4 villages, and reached Fuliangpeng township of E'Shan Co. The lone male is 35.8 km to the North. The pack has entered a stretch with diminishing food and water sources, task force amping up feeding efforts
67) #followtheelephants June 25 the pack moved S 3 km, remains in Fuliangpeng township. The lone male is 44 km to the N, remains in Shuanghe township, Jinning district. The #elephants are resting less and are spending more time on the road, creating challenges to their feeding.
68) #followtheelephants The task force seems to be getting better at their job as the pack moved S 10 km on June 26, reaching Tadian township of E'Shan Co. The lone male #elephant is in no hurry to join his pals, remaining in Jinning district 53.3 km away.
69) #followtheelephants The pack is picking up pace, creating challenges for monitoring & feeding efforts. Today 3.9 tonnes food & 4 kg salt were offered up to the #elephants. My Q is, what happens to the food that the pack didn't eat? Are they dumped or moved down the path?
70) #followtheelephants The pack move NE 1.9 km on June 27, likely to the dismay of the task force. But they are remaining in Tadian township. The lone male is now in Hongta District, Yuxi City, 53 km away.
71) #followtheelephants On June 28 the pack moved SE 4.6 km and has not exited Tadian township. The lone male is 52 km to the NE, in Hongta District, Yuxi city. There are some fog and thunderstorms in the region, making it harder to track the pack.
72) #followtheelephants the pack moved SE 6.3 km on June 30th, still in Tadian township. the lone male is 53.2 km to the NE, in Hongta District, Yuxi city. foggy & rainy weather persists.
73) #followtheelephants 1 funny detail today was that 112 vehicles & 253 people who were going 🍄 picking were turned back. Wild 🍄 are abundant in Yunnan & are a fav of locals. 1 side effect is lots of poisonous 🍄 are mistakenly eaten, leading to hallucinations or even deaths.
74) #followtheelephants On June 30, the pack move NE 5.5 km, remains in Tadian township, the lone male is 53.8 km away, in Hongta district. 50 vehicles/120 persons turned back from going mushroom picking. Must be some delicious 🍄 Be sure to have some next time you visit Yunan!
75) #followtheelephants on July 1, the pack took a rest and didn't move around much. Lone male 53.6 km away in Hongta district. Xinping Co, a stone's throw away to the SW, put together its task force today to prepare for possible #Elephants arrival. 100s 🍄 pickers turned back.
76) #followtheelephants apologies for the lapse. Major development taking place on June 7th, w/ the lone male being safely transferred back to Xishuangbanna. The official explanation was that it couldn't find natural food sources and posed risks for the neighboring population.
77) #followtheelephants The rest of the pack is now in Yangwu township, Xinping Co. Yuxi city. In recent days, the pack has moved in the general direction of SW.
78) #followtheelephants by 5 pm July 11, the pack has reached Longwu township, Shiping Co., Honghe Prefecture. Everyone's safe.
79) #followtheelephants By July 12, the pack moved SE 8.8 km and remains in Longwu. One latest thoughtful measure was to scan the surrounding farmland for irrigation structures such as ditches and pools, to prevent young elephants from falling in and risk being stuck.
80）#followtheelephants between July 14 to July 15, the pack moved NW 12km, and remains in Longwu township.
81) #followtheelephants the pack moved a meager 2.86km to the SE on July 16th. I was asking a colleague how much Yunnan had spent on the monitoring and guiding efforts, he said whatever the amount it was money well spent considering the media exposure the province enjoyed.
82）#followtheelephant on the 17th the pack moved NE 3.4km, opposite of the direction of Xishuangbanna. Maybe due to this fact, a whopping 1480 personnel and 380 guiding vehicles were deployed, and 4.12 tonnes of bananna supplied to lure the pack to the SW
83)#followtheelephant On the 19th, the pack moved NW 2.3 km, and remains in Longwu township. Again a massive campaign was launched to lure the pack to the south. 4.25 tons of bananas are provided to the elephants. Do elephants eat banana peel?
84)#followtheelephant I think we are nearing the grand finale of the #elephant exodus. On Aug 8, the herd crossed Yuan 元 river and reached its southern bank, just 26 km from Pu'er City, its original habitat.
85) #followtheelephant Apologies for the late update. As of Aug.12, the #elephants have entered Pu'er, their original habitat. Experts hope they'd travel further South where they may feel more at home. It's really a small miracle that the pack made it back safe & sound.
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