【鹿城区】Worries behind the laughter

高飞飞 2021-07-29 18:12:41

Fifteen Asian elephants have already become international “super stars” since this early June when they began the migration from Yunnan province to north area. Countless netizens around the world pay close attention to the elephants’ adventure. They’re attracted as fans by the animals’ cute behaviors and excellent teamwork live-broadcast on international social media platforms. They watch the elephants’ eating, sleeping, playing as well as traveling with great interest and write down some funny comments. Meanwhile, netizens think highly of the protection measures taken out by Chinese government and the kindness of Chinese volunteers. The local government do enough jobs to make sure no human or elephant be hurt. Local Yunnan villagers even allow the elephants feed themselves in the field although this inevitably causes some damage to the crops. It shows their care and love for the animals. It’s such a harmonious picture in which humans and animals live in peace together.

However, some netizens feel a little puzzled about the long-way migration of the elephants. Why do they leave their home and travel for such a long time？Actually, some experts already focus on the question and try to find the answer.

There is a fact about the Asian wild elephants in Yunnan that is with the help and protection of our government, the number of the elephants has grown from less than 200 to over 300 during the past 30 years. That leads to the shortage of living space and food for the elephants. So some comparatively adventurous elephants choose to move with their family members rather than just stay still and feel hopeless. In fact, the migration of elephants sometimes happens. But this time it is very different because of the long distance. We know the elephants have to continue their journey before they find a suitable place to settle down.It’s really not easy for them to have a new home on the way. As the increase of human population, we need more land to grow crops and build houses. That is to say, we expand our territory and occupy the habitat of animals. What’s worse, the global environment is already influenced by human activities. Besides the elephants’ migration, mass whale stranding, the unusual high temperature in Kuwait and heavy rainstorm in China this year also make us feel concerned about the environmental problems.

You see, as for the lovely elephants, behind the laughter before the screen, a lot of people, especially the experts feel worried. They are thinking about how to help. As far as I am concerned, firstly, the local government need to set up a temporary habitat for the elephants and offer enough food. It is not a good idea to let them just travel all the time which is dangerous for both the humans and animals. It also causes us humans too much manpower and money. So we should make it stop and then we will have enough time to improve and expand the National Elephant Park in Yunnan. After that, we help lead the homeless elephants to return their original home. The most important is to raise awareness of wildlife conservation, so it’s necessary to live-broadcast the process of helping the cute elephants go back home. As netizens know more about the animals, they certainly love them more and realize animals have happiness and sadness just like humans. We are family in the one and only earth.