Wandering elephants may finally be heading home

Homeward bound: The elephants crossing a river on a bridge near Yuxi city in Yuanjiang county. — AP

BEIJING: An elephant herd that fascinated locals and people around the world by making a yearlong journey into urbanised southwest China, raiding farms and even a retirement home for food, appears finally to be headed home.

Local authorities have deployed trucks, workers and drones to monitor the elephants, evacuated roads for them to pass safely and used food to steer them away from populated areas.