A themed festival to call for greater protection of Asian elephants starts at a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Aug 11, 2023. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On Friday, a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, began a festival to celebrate World Elephant Day and call for greater protection of Asian elephants.

As part of the festival, which lasts until Sept 10, visitors to the Guangzhou Chimelong Safari Park were invited to plant banana trees inside an Asian elephant enclosure on Friday, a day before the World Elephant Day.

A themed festival to call for greater protection of Asian elephants starts at a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Aug 11, 2023. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Asian elephants are under first-class state protection in China. There are currently more than 30 wild Asian elephants living at the Chimelong Safari Park, which has become the largest breeding base for Asian elephants in China.

The park introduced its first Asian elephant in 2000, which has since given birth to five baby elephants.

A themed festival to call for greater protection of Asian elephants starts at a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Aug 11, 2023. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A themed festival to call for greater protection of Asian elephants starts at a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Aug 11, 2023. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A themed festival to call for greater protection of Asian elephants starts at a safari park in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Aug 11, 2023. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]