Insurance program helps cover damage by roaming elephants

As monitors closely watched the herd to ensure people's safety, employees with an insurance company began assessing villagers' losses soon after they arrived in the mountain-ringed village on Aug 19, Ding recalled.

About 20 days after the herd left, a total of 210,000 yuan in compensation was transferred to villagers' bank accounts, he said.

"Villagers who suffered losses need not do anything but provide their ID and bank account numbers," Ding said.

As the herd continues roaming far from its traditional habitat after leaving Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve last year, Dazhai provides one example of how Yunnan authorities are dealing with losses caused by the animals.

According to the Yunnan provincial forestry and grassland administration, the province took the lead in the country in 2010 with a pilot insurance program that compensates for damage caused by wild animals. Using only public funds, the insurance program covered the entire province by 2014.