China's famous herd of wandering elephants is showing increasing daily movement as it lingers in a particular spot of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with its activities now starting earlier in the day, authorities said on Thursday.
The herd is still roaming within Shijie Township in the city of Yuxi and travelled 7.4 km southwest between 6 p.m. on Wednesday and 6 p.m. on Thursday, according to the headquarters in charge of monitoring their migration.
A male elephant, which strayed 12 days ago, is about 18.8 km away from the herd now. All 15 elephants are safe and sound.
The headquarters is working to establish a regular mechanism for ensuring the safety of the herd and people, while coordinating the allocation of relevant designated funds.
The herd traveled about 500 km from their forest home in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture before reaching Kunming, the provincial capital, late on June 2.
For over a month, authorities have sent police to escort the herd, evacuated roads to facilitate their passage, and used food to distract them from entering densely populated areas.
Asian elephants are primarily found in Yunnan and are under A-level state protection in China. Thanks to enhanced protection efforts, the wild elephant population in the province has grown to about 300, up from 193 in the 1980s.
