Screen grab from drone video shows the Asian elephants in Eshan County of Yuxi, southwest China's Yunnan Province on June 20, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

Yunnan government has persuaded over 280 mushroom pickers to leave the wild areas in the mountains to avoid a human-elephant conflict, as an elephant herd heads southeast.

The elephant herd chose to rest in Yuxi, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, after migrating nearly 10 kilometers. 

But the southbound journey of the elephant herd has coincided with the locals' large-scale annual mushroom picking operation. The forests in Yunnan are a home to various species of fungi every year from mid-June to November. 

The local government sent 231 policemen and used drones to persuade 90 fungi-picking cars and pickers to leave the mountainous areas where the elephants might arrive soon.

Netizens worried that the elephants may end up eating some of the mushrooms that are poisonous.

"Elephant parents will teach their babies at an early age to distinguish edible from inedible food," Sheng Zhongqing, a senior engineer from a nature reserve in Xishuangbanna Autonomous Prefecture, told the media. "They are quite aware of the dangers and how to avoid them."

"These are things that people don't need to worry about."

Initially found in Yunnan, Asian elephants are now under A-level state protection. The wild-elephant population in Yunnan has grown to around 300 thanks to protection.