International Fund Eases Clash Over ElephantsThe International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) will provide fund to protect wild Asian elephants in southwest China, who were facing angry local villagers' possible vengeance due to the elephants' move to cause crop damages and human deaths and injuries.More than 142,000 yuan (17,000 US dollars) will be donated by the Fund this month to the Asian Elephant Project, launched by the Fund in July 2000, the Monday's China Daily reports. The project aims to promote tolerance of the villagers in Simao Region, southwest China's Yunnan Province, of elephant-related damages and to alleviate any conflicts between local residents and elephants by assisting the villagers in a program of economic development. Five wild elephants began to settle down in the mountainous region of Simao in 1996 and since conflicts between elephants and villagers occurred. The elephants were believed to be from the Xishuangbanna tropical rain forestry regions, only 70 kilometers away from Simao, where most of China's wild elephants -- less than 300 -- are living now. These mammals, under the state protection, have killed 5 people and injured more than 10 so far, besides eating and destroying crops like rice and fruits planted by farmers. Up to now more than 164,000 yuan (20,000 US dollars) have been donated to several communities in the region. Ge Gabriel, an official with IFAW, said the total funding of the three-year project would be a minimum of 1.1 million yuan (130,000 US dollars). |
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