Sometimes scorching heat, sometimes rain: forest animals have learned to bear it all, and perhaps that is why their lives are less complicated than ours. When tiredness comes after a day of roaming, they sleep wherever they are, without wasting time looking for a good bed, parents curled up with their young. A strikingly beautiful photo of just such a sleeping herd of elephants is now circulating on social media.

Xinhua and almost all other Chinese media have published the picture of the elephants asleep. It was taken in Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar's Kachin and Shan states. In the jungles of the border area, 15 Asian elephants have been travelling day after day as they please, with no fixed destination. Chinese experts are keeping watch on them.

The herd has been walking for about 15 months and has come 500 km from its home. Fourteen drones and 500 people have been deployed to keep the elephants safe, and they report the animals' movements every day.

Various international media say the photo of the sleeping herd was taken near Jinning district of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. That picture has now caused a stir around the world.

Three of the 15 elephants are calves, and two of them have strayed from the group. Crops in several villages have reportedly been damaged by the herd.

The elephants also caused amazement by walking through Kunming city. Scientists believe it is very rare for a herd of elephants to travel so far from home, and every movement they make is now a subject of research.

The Chinese government is trying to bring the elephants back to the Mangiangzi Natural Reserve in Yunnan province, but they are moving as they please. Several rare pictures of the herd have been taken, and the one of a mother with her calf and the others sleeping has caught everyone's eye.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.