China News Service Tengchong, Yunnan, December 2 (Luo Jie, Han Shuainan) On the 2nd, the seminar on animal migration and ecological protection under global change opened in Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, with more than 60 experts and scholars from China, the United States, France, Spain, Laos, Zimbabwe, Mexico and other countries and regions exchanging research and management experience in human-wildlife conflicts, and animal migration and ecological protection methods and paths.
Located in the southwestern border of China, Yunnan is one of the provinces with the richest biodiversity in China, and has achieved remarkable results in biodiversity conservation in recent years. As an important habitat for Asian elephants, which are national first-class protected animals, the number of Asian elephants in Yunnan has increased to more than 300 now, and the distribution range has increased significantly. With the expansion of the local Asian elephant range, "human-elephant conflict" has become one of the hot topics of discussion among experts and scholars from all over the world.
Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, a Spanish researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that due to the success of conservation efforts, the population of Asian elephants in China is growing, but the carrying capacity within the habitat is insufficient, which leads the elephant herd to choose to leave for more resources and food, and enter the human living environment, which increases the probability of conflict. "The establishment of the Asian Elephant National Park is very important and will alleviate the phenomenon of 'human-elephant conflict'," he said. ”
Chen Mingyong, a professor at Yunnan University's School of Ecology and Environment, said that wild Asian elephants and human activities overlap more and more in space and time, and during the migration process, Asian elephants have adapted to human road traffic behavior, and have begun to choose to use the passages reserved above highways, railway tunnels and bridges, which have avoided accidents and reduced conflicts to a certain extent.
Chen Fei, director of the Asian Elephant Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that Yunnan borders Laos, and cross-border joint protection between China and Laos was carried out as early as 17 years ago. In terms of transboundary Asian elephant conservation, based on the current investigation and monitoring, Chen Fei suggested expanding the scope of the China-Laos Joint Protected Area, improving the suitability of transboundary corridors, and developing potential transboundary corridors for Asian elephants.
Sithisack Paninhuan, deputy director of the Namha National Nature Reserve in Laos, said that Laos is also facing the problem of "human-elephant conflict" and hopes to carry out more cooperation with Yunnan on biodiversity conservation and other aspects in the future.
The forum was co-sponsored by the International Society of Zoology, the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the School of Ecology and Environment of Hainan University, the New Technology Development Center of the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Yunnan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade, and was one of the sub-forums of the 2023 Tengchong Scientists Forum. (ENDS).