Herd of elephants wandering through China is 'unprecedented'

A herd of elephants which has been travelling through China for 15 months has stopped for a rest on the edge of the city of Kunming.

Asian Elephant Cognition and Behaviour Expert Joshua Plotnik says he does not know what led the elephants to travel 500 miles from their original home in the Yunnan province, saying the situation is “quite unprecedented”.

“These elephants haven’t simply just left to go food shopping, as it were, they’ve travelled several hundred kilometres looking for something,” Mr Plotnik told Sky News.

“It could be because of loss of resources they were looking for and no longer have access to in their home area.”

He said government officials, scientists and locals are working together to develop a plan to assist the elephants.

“The longer-term solution is to find a way to either turn those elephants back to their home, or to gear them towards another protected habitat where they can live safely.”

Видео Herd of elephants wandering through China is 'unprecedented' канала Sky News Australia