Photos: China's wandering elephants becoming international stars

A migrating herd of elephants roam through farmlands of Shuanghe Township, Jinning District of Kunming city in southwestern China's Yunnan Province. Already famous at home, China's wandering elephants are now becoming international stars. Major global media, including satellite news stations, newspapers and wire services, are chronicling the herd's more-than year-long, 500 kilometres (300 miles) trek from their home in a wildlife reserve in mountainous southwest Yunnan province, the outskirts of the provincial capital of Kunming.

Twitter and YouTube are full of clips of their various antics, particularly those of two calves, who slipped into an irrigation ditch and had to be helped out by older group members.

"We should be more like the elephant and be more family-oriented, take family vacations and help and care for and protect each other,'' read one comment on Youtube signed Mr Deterministicchaos.

A herd of elephants walk along a road in Eshan, Yunan, China.

The elephants have been trending for days on China's Weibo microblogging service, with photos of the group sleeping attracting 25,000 posts and 200 million views Monday night.

The 15-strong herd has been caught at night trotting down urban streets by security cameras, filmed constantly from the air by more than a dozen drones and followed by those seeking to minimize damage and keep both pachyderms and people out of harm's way.

In this aerial photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a herd of wild Asian elephants walks in E’shan county in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province.

They've raided farms for food and water, visited a car dealership and even showed up at a retirement home, where they poked their trunks into some of the rooms, prompting one older man to hide under his bed.

While no animals or people have been hurt, reports damage crops at more than $1 million. Sixteen animals were initially in the group, but the government says two returned home, and a baby was born during the walk. According to official reports, the herd is composed of six female and three male adults, three juveniles and three calves. What exactly motivated them to make the epic journey remains a mystery. However, they appear to be especially attracted to corn, tropical fruit, and other tasty, plentiful, and easy to obtain in the lush tropical region that is home to about 300 of the animals. Others have speculated their leader may be lost.

It’s not clear what spurred the elephants to leave their home. But after conservation efforts, China’s elephant population has grown in recent years, from fewer than 200 several decades ago to around 300 today, according to official statistics.