A group of famed wandering elephants in China left a wildlife reserve in the southwest of Yunnan province heading southwest. They have walked about 300 miles (500 km) north to the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming as they have left the reserve more than one year ago.

They were spotted in Shijie township, Yuxi, more than 5 miles (8 km) southwest of the Kunming. However, there was a lone male, that is moving faster than the group, was 10 miles (16 km) away on the outskirts of Kunming.

The authorities hope that they will be able lead them back to their original home in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture southwest of Kunming as their travel direction could be a good sign.

Authorities lured the elephants with food and blocked roads into villages to keep a distance between the local residents and the elephants. Unfortunately, the authorities’ attempts did not go well as 15 farms have been raided by the elephants!

All the elephants are healthy and no human has been injured in encounters with them. No one knows why the 300 elephants embarked on their trek, but wildlife campaign manager with World Animal Protection, Evan Sun, said that possible reasons could include loss of habitat, a rise in the elephant population, and lack of food supply. We hope that they reach the place they want safely.

Watch the video below.

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