Two wild elephants were electrocuted in a nature reserve in south-western China after coming into contact with a high-voltage cable, state media reported Wednesday, quoting local officials.
The elephants — a 30-year-old mother and its three-year-old calf — were killed Monday on a reserve in China's Yunnan province, in a remote area bordering Myanmar and Laos, said the official Xinhua news agency.
Quoting an official with Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve's administration, Xinhua said investigators had found clear evidence that the animals had been electrocuted on a highway, with burns on their carcasses and remnants of charred wires.
A villager told Xinhua the animals had been part of a herd of 10 wild elephants that had roamed the town of Mengman.
"They came from a nearby mountain. All the rest left after the accident," the villager told Xinhua.
According to Xinhua, the forests of Xishuangbanna are home to more than 250 wild Asian elephants, about 90 percent of China's total elephant population.
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