Animal Detective

Chapter 445 Live Elephant Smuggling Case

Police officers remained at the scene, and the Hudian Township Police Station also came to provide support.

Special police officers were using drones to monitor the movements of the mother elephant.

Pan Wenhai drove slowly along the highway.

In the passenger seat, Shen Xin was looking at a tablet.

They released both dragons, letting them follow the female elephant.

While the car was stopped, Pan Wenhai checked his phone again, and after a while, he slapped his thigh and said, "I knew I hadn't misremembered."

"What did you misremember?"

Shen Xin turned his head and asked.

Pan Wenhai showed his phone to Shen Xin and then said, "Weren't we just talking about how this elephant was transported here?"

“I remembered that a similar case had happened before. I have an impression of it. Look, this is the case, the first case in the country.”

He pointed to his phone.

This is a very old report from the internet.

Back in 05, the Dehong police received a tip from the public that someone was planning to smuggle a batch of Asian elephants into China for sale in the border area.

This case was handled by the local forestry police in Dehong.

After a thorough investigation and planning, they apprehended the criminals.

The report stated that the group purchased six elephants from Myanmar, each costing between 30,000 and 50,000 yuan.

After entering the country, they are kept in the uninhabited forests on the border, waiting for the transaction to be completed here before being transported to Shandong Province.

The elephants were purchased by a zoo in Shandong Province, a zoo owned by a local private enterprise.

Each one costs as much as 60.

The report included some details of the operation, which involved two groups: one focused on the transaction, while the other went to the packing site.

Then they were caught red-handed.

The report also stated that they actually purchased six elephants, but one of them was killed because the elephants were too wild.

Seeing this, Shen Xin asked, "How did they smuggle these into the country?"

In 05, although it was 13 years ago, border control should have been very strict.

"I'll have to ask. Back in 05, I was just a new recruit. I've only heard about it, but I don't know the specific details."

Pan Wenhai got the phone and called an acquaintance in the forest police.

This case was the largest live elephant smuggling case in the country, and even in Asia. After the case was solved, it was reported by many media outlets and had a great impact.

But Pan Wenhai wasn't involved, so he doesn't know much about it.

After listening to the explanation, Pan Wenhai's expression turned serious. After a long while, he hung up the phone and couldn't help but curse.

Seeing Shen Xin looking at him, Pan Wenhai said in a deep voice, "I've found out that it was drugs."

Shen Xin was startled and quickly asked what happened.

Pan Wenhai said, "They targeted a herd of elephants, then smeared drugs on bananas and fed them to the herd's leader."

"After feeding them for two weeks, the elephants became addicted to the drug. Then we walked around scattering bananas to lure the elephants to follow us."

“Once the lead elephant leaves, the other elephants follow, and that’s how they are led all the way from Kuang, Myanmar into the country.”

"After that, it was just regular transportation. We welded cages and transported them by truck."

After explaining the situation, Pan Wenhai cursed again, saying that these guys were simply inhuman.

Shen Xin was equally surprised.

Could it be that this female elephant was also captured in this way?
When the mother elephant walks, the calf will naturally follow.

Shen Xin looked towards the distant mountains and forests.

It shouldn't be that bad. Although the female elephant was very thin from hunger, she seemed to be in relatively good condition.

Shen Xin prefers to believe that they were captured by poachers in the mountains within the country and then secretly transported here through some channel.

Although there is now surveillance coverage, vulnerabilities still exist.

Shen Xin felt heavy-hearted and searched for related reports online.

Fortunately, the poisoned elephant, named Xiguang, did not die.

After being rescued, the five elephants were handed over to a domestic wildlife conservation association and then placed in a rescue station in Qiongzhou.

In Qiongzhou, the expert team also devised a method that took nearly three years to help the poisoned elephant get rid of the poison.

In 2008, four of the elephants were transferred to the Asian Elephant Rescue and Breeding Center in Mengle, where they are still alive and well.

Just then, Tan Qingming and his group arrived.

The director of the ambulance center was thin, square-faced, wore glasses, and was very polite and spoke in a friendly manner.

He didn't say anything about Shen Xin cutting the chains beforehand.

“Anesthesia carries certain risks, and we have no way to perform it.”

"And you don't know, elephants hold grudges very well. If you anesthetize them, they might hold a grudge against humans. They might then deliberately cause trouble or attack humans in the future."

"It's quite good to cut the chains and control the range of motion without anesthesia like this."

Anesthesia is usually administered remotely to avoid being seen by the elephant.

As he spoke, Tan Qingming beckoned his men to come closer and observe the mother elephant's condition, while he himself stayed with Shen Xin, observing via drone.

He has already contacted Mengle, and people are on their way here.

In the distance, you can still hear the mother elephant's call.

Tan Qingming sighed slightly. He was involved in animal research, rescue, and protection, and he couldn't bear to see mothers and their babies separated like this.

Shen Xin asked what would happen to the female elephant next.

Should we release it back into the wild, or rescue and raise it? And what about that baby elephant?

"Hard to say."

Tan Qingming shook his head slightly and said, "To this day, there is still no standardized procedure for dealing with these elephants that have entered the city."

“In the past, we only thought about saving people, and we figured out how to save them gradually through trial and error.”

He gave several examples.

For example, in 05, I rescued a baby elephant and named it Ranran.

At the time, I thought he couldn't be saved, and I didn't know how to save him. I even considered euthanasia.

In the end, they managed to rescue him through trial and error.

There are many similar cases.

In 15, I rescued a baby elephant that was only about a week old. I named her Yangniu.

"But while we've rescued them, how to rewild them and release them back into the wild has become a major problem, just like Yangniu, who grew up in the rescue center."

"When encountering a herd of elephants in the wild, these rescued baby elephants can run faster than a person."

“Elephant herds are social animals and it is difficult for them to accept other elephants. If they are released alone, they will not be able to survive in the wild without the protection of the herd.”

"Our ultimate goal in rescuing them is to release them back into the wild, not just keep them in captivity."

"So the debate is still going on."

"In what situations should we use anesthesia to rescue the animal, and in what situations should we leave it alone and try to guide it back to the herd?"

"By the way, didn't you guys see the news from two months ago?"

He looked at the crowd.

Shen Xin shook his head, not knowing what news he was referring to.

Tan Qingming said, "On April 8th, in Simao, an elephant ran into the city and wandered around everywhere."

"He's very popular online, and people even call him 'City-Strolling Bro'."

"At the time, we considered not anesthetizing it, but guiding it out of the city to avoid contact with humans."

"As a result, after we finally managed to guide it out of the city, it ran back on its own and even went to the school."

"There was no other way, so they anesthetized her again and sent her to the emergency center."

"This is the first Asian elephant in China to venture into a downtown area. It was because of this that I decided to discuss how to handle it and how to establish a standard for it in the future."

"After all, urban development is too fast and it encroaches too much on the habitat of wild elephants."

Just then, something happened in the distance.

Perhaps because the people were too close, or perhaps because she couldn't find her cubs, the mother elephant turned her attention to the people and charged toward a rescue center employee with a roar.

It scared the person so much that they fled in a panic.

The scene was in chaos, and Tan Qingming hurriedly grabbed a walkie-talkie to call for everyone to evacuate.

Fortunately, the mother elephant only chased after it briefly and did not pursue it to the death.

Elephants may look clumsy, but they can actually be quite fast when they charge.

He is faster than the human 100-meter champion in short-distance sprints.

After chasing for a while, the mother elephant stopped, and the next moment, she ran straight towards the road.

The person currently in charge of on-site monitoring is Guo Zhaoyue, the director of Hudian Police Station.

He was in his forties, with a slightly aged appearance. Seeing the mother elephant running this way, he quickly told everyone to disperse.

No one dared to be negligent and immediately dispersed.

Without getting in the car, Shen Xin followed Pan Wenhai and ran eastward along the highway.

As a result of this running, the mother elephant, which was a hundred meters away, immediately turned around and headed east.

It was fast, and it got closer and closer as it ran.

As it turns out, two legs really can't outrun four legs.

After the officers from Hudian Police Station arrived, they set up a cordon at a distance from the highway to guide passing vehicles.

Seeing that they had reached the police line and that some cars had been stopped, Shen Xin didn't dare to run any further and immediately turned around with Pan Wenhai.

As soon as the elephant turned around, the mother elephant immediately adjusted her direction as well.

Upon seeing this, Shen Xin's heart stirred, and he immediately stopped.

It's probably coming for me.

Seeing Shen Xin stop, Pan Wenhai was quite frightened and quickly pulled Shen Xin away.

"Old Pan, it's alright, it was coming for me."

As they spoke, the mother elephant was already close by, slowing down and letting out a mournful cry.

He came to Shen Xin, stopped, called out twice, and then slowly and clumsily knelt down on the road.

Almost immediately, a favorability icon slowly appeared above its head.

After it appeared, it suddenly increased by 6 squares.

The situation is the same as when Yueyue was born.

Once a person develops self-awareness and develops feelings of liking, the level of liking will increase dramatically.

It stretched out its nose and gently touched Shen Xin, calling out urgently, still pleading for Shen Xin's help.

Tan Qingming ran west.

Turning my head, I witnessed the mother elephant kneeling down, and my eyes widened instantly.

This was the first time he had ever seen anything like it.

(End of this chapter)