The return of the elephants: How two groups of dispersing elephants attracted the attention of billions and what can we learn from their behavior

In May–June 2021, wild Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, in Southwest China made global headlines when a herd of 15 trekked north toward the 8-million-person city of Kunming, while another herd of similar size moved south into a popular botanical garden. Both herds used to live in the Mengyang section of the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve (hereafter Mengyang; 22.2oN, 100.9oE), from which both departed in March 2020, moving into areas with no living memory of elephants. For several weeks, the “wandering elephants” drew unprecedented public attention on Asian elephant conservation, while mobilizing an extraordinary amount of resources (800 officers and 270 vehicles at the peak of the monitoring and management operation; Fei Chen pers. obs.). Here, we address the causes and conservation implications of this unusual behavior.