--- title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Living alongside Asian elephants description: Living alongside Asian elephants canonical: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/living-alongside-asian-elephants/ article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-09-01T07:49:18.112Z article:modified_time: 2026-09-01T07:48:48.179Z article:section: Paid Partner Content og:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Living alongside Asian elephants og:description: Living alongside Asian elephants og:url: https://time.com/branded-content/china-daily/living-alongside-asian-elephants/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf205c3b88a624121/6a9682ce13f16b8f06ad12ce/2._Living_alongside_Asian_elephants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1575 og:image:height: 886 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: China Daily - TIME - Partner Content - Living alongside Asian elephants twitter:description: Living alongside Asian elephants twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf205c3b88a624121/6a9682ce13f16b8f06ad12ce/2._Living_alongside_Asian_elephants.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Living alongside Asian elephants  _A herd of Asian elephants is seen in the Nangunhe National Nature Reserve in Lincang city, Yunnan province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY_ By CHEN LIANG In China, Asian elephants have become symbols of both disruption and media fascination, often simultaneously. While they typically reside within nature reserves, these majestic creatures often venture into human settlements. In Yunnan province, wild elephants frequently wander into villages, checkpoints, and suburbs in search of food. While individual strays are common, the province captured global attention in 2020 when a herd of about 14 elephants embarked on an epic journey, trekking over 310 miles toward Kunming, the provincial capital. This surge in media coverage has inadvertently put the spotlight on regions like Xishuangbanna and Pu’er, associating them with the presence of Asian elephants. However, nestled between these well-known areas, the city of Lincang in Yunnan is left out of elephant-related news. This is despite the presence of a unique population of Asian elephants thriving within the Nangunhe National Nature Reserve, located in Cangyuan and Gengma counties under Lincang’s jurisdiction. “The elephants within our reserve rarely, if ever, clash with the communities living nearby,” explained Qin Jianchun, deputy director of the reserve’s Cangyuan administration. “This harmonious coexistence is likely why Lincang remains relatively unknown as a home for Asian elephants.” According to Qin, there are two distinct clades of wild Asian elephants distributed across China. Those living in Xishuangbanna and Pu’er, with a population of more than 280, belong to the Alpha clade, and those living within the Nangunhe nature reserve, with a population of only 21, belong to the Beta clade. On occasion, elephants may venture near villages surrounding the reserve, particularly those in Banlao and Banhong townships in Cangyuan Va autonomous county. However, Qin said, they seldom linger long enough to cause disturbances for the local residents, most of whom belong to the Va ethnic group. According to the reserve manager, there are 38 villages with a population exceeding 100,000 people scattered around the entire nature reserve. Among these villages, near 20,000 people live near areas with distributions of wild Asian elephants. The harmonious coexistence between humans and elephants is partly attributed to the Va people’s long-standing reverence for the majestic creatures. Each year on April 18, the Va ethnic group celebrates the Gongxiang (Elephant Worship) Festival in Banlao township. Recognized as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2022, the festival is a colorful celebration of the Va people’s profound connection with nature. The festival’s origins are rooted in the desire to honor and appease the elephants that share their homeland. It features a food offering ritual, featuring sugarcane, corn, and bananas, to the elephants believed to be nearby. In addition to these cultural traditions, the reserve manager credits the peaceful relationship to various conservation efforts and protective measures implemented by the reserve and local government over the years. In recent years, significant investments have been made to protect the elephants. Near the boundary of the reserve, the local government has given a 136-acre field to the reserve to cultivate favorite food for Asian elephants, such as certain species of bamboo and banana. Another field with an area of 166 acres has been mapped out in another area bordering with the reserve and soon will start planting food for elephants, Qin said. Electric security fences have been installed around the fields to protect them, he said. “We wouldn’t allow the elephants access to the fields until the plants are ready for them to eat,” he added. Also the reserve has contributed to making the local villagers’ tea plantations less appealing to the elephants, by encouraging the growth of macadamia nut trees in the plantations. “Elephants don’t like eating the nut trees, and they have good memories when it comes to food sources,” Qin said. Living alongside Asian elephants around the reserve requires constant vigilance. The Cangyuan administration continuously enhances monitoring and early warning systems, incorporating the use of drones, infrared cameras, and smart terminals, and utilizing an Asian elephant warning app. While the reserve has achieved significant milestones in conservation, the future is not without its challenges. Agricultural expansion and a growing population have fragmented natural corridors, preventing the elephants from dispersing, said Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, which is based in Kunming. He said that the forested corridor connecting the reserve to Myanmar, once used by the elephants, has been largely replaced by rubber and tea plantations, isolating the elephant population. “For me, that’s the biggest challenge the Nangunhe population of Asian elephants has encountered,” Chen said. To address the challenges, he said that “we need to introduce new individuals to the population to enhance genetic diversity, balance the sex ratio, and improve the population’s ability to withstand external environmental changes” in the future. At present, Qin said, he still feels positive to the population’s health. “The elephant population has grown from 12 in 2018 and five calves have been born since 2019,” he said. “That means under our conservation, the population of Asian elephants is still growing in Nangunhe.” [](https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/) ## China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World Since its launch in 1981, China Daily has grown to become the nation’s leading English-language newspaper. With a combined print, online and mobile readership of more than 470 million, it serves a vital role in telling the world about China, providing valuable insight into the world’s second-largest economy. 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