Fifteen Asian elephants caught the world’s attention as they trekked northwards for about 500 kilometres from Xishuangbanna prefecture in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan (see go.nature.com/3wofhfc). Their epic journey is widely considered to be a quest for better resources — almost 40% of the animals’ habitat in Xishuangbanna has been lost to commercial development over the past 20 years. We call for an integrated system of national park reserves for China’s elephants. This should be protected and take into account their foraging habits, migration patterns and other phased activities.

Conservation efforts have nearly doubled China’s Asian elephant population to about 300 individuals over 40 years (L. Zhang et al. PLoS ONE 10, e0124834; 2015). However, the destruction of habitat by extensive planting of cash crops such as rubber and tea has put them in conflict with humans. The government paid out about 22 million yuan (US$3.25 million) in compensation last year alone (unpublished data).

Reconnecting, restoring and expanding existing habitats would cut the cost of such conflicts and boost profits from ecosystem services (see, for example, P. Liu et al. Ecosyst. Serv. 38, 100949; 2019).