A herd of elephants in southwest China has been on a year-long journey to nowhere, wreaking havoc, capturing hearts and confounding scientists along t

This elephant herd is wandering through China, causing chaos and capturing hearts 

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2021-06-10 15:30:16

A herd of elephants in southwest China has been on a year-long journey to nowhere, wreaking havoc, capturing hearts and confounding scientists along the way. 

The elephants left their home on a wildlife reserve in the southwest Yunnan province more than a year ago, and have since travelled roughly 500 kilometres. 

The creatures have been seen trotting down urban streets, raiding farms for food and water, visiting a car dealership and even showing up at a retirement home, where they poked their trunks into some of the rooms, prompting one elderly man to hide under his bed. They were most recently seen on the outskirts of Kunming, a city of seven million people.

Scientists don't yet know what sparked this unconventional journey, but many have speculated they're trying to find a new home because their traditional one is no longer suitable. 

"These elephants are likely trying to find resources that were limited in the location where they came from," Joshua Plotnik, an expert on Asian elephant cognition and behaviour at Hunter College in New York, told As it Happens host Carol Off. 

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