Wild elephant calf enjoys "mud spa" in China's Yunnan

The herd of wild elephants making their way across Yunnan, China has been spotted passing a mud puddle in China's Yunnan province, with one calf seen splashing around in it.

The animals have traveled about 500 km north from their forest home in southern Yunnan's Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, reaching Kunming earlier this month.

For weeks, authorities have sent police to escort the herd, evacuated roads to facilitate their passage, and used food to distract them from entering densely populated areas.

Asian elephants are primarily found in Yunnan and are under A-level state protection in China. Thanks to enhanced protection efforts, the wild elephant population in the province grew to about 300, up from 193 in the 1980s.

Source: Xinhua and others