After a long and hard journey that made international headlines, China’s famous herd of wandering elephants appears to finally be heading home.

In August, the 14 Asian elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan and a path was being made for them to return to the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.

The elephants’ return completes a more than 500km odyssey that caught the attention of the country. The highlights of their trip included the birth of a calf in Pu’er in last November; and going viral for taking a nap. If they were just taking a walk in the forest, it wasn’t a big deal. But the fact is, they left whatever they stepped on in ruins, causing great damage to local residents.

Local wildlife experts have been unable to pinpoint the reason the herd decided to move. One reason is given that the population of elephants in the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture is so large, which has increased from 190 to over 300 since 40 years ago, that there is not enough food for them. Some say that their move is due to the influence of the magnetic field of the earth and there is another story saying maybe that lead elephant lost its way, thus leading the herd out of the way. But Zhang Li, a professor on conservation biology at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times in June that large-scale human engineering developments have sped up the “islanding” of elephant habitats.

This meant “the traditional safe zones between humans and elephants are gradually disappearing, and the chances of elephants encountering humans naturally increase greatly”.

Winter begins in the north on December 22nd. People and animals have been doing what they always do to prepare for the colder months. Squirrels (松鼠), for example, have been busy gathering nuts from trees. Well, scientists have been busy gathering information about what the squirrels do with the food they collect.

They examined differences between red squirrels and gray squirrels in the American state of Indiana. The scientists wanted to know how these differences could affect the growth of black walnut (黑胡桃) trees. The black walnut is the nut of choice for both kinds of squirrels. The black walnut tree is also a central part of some hardwood forests.

Rob Swihart of Purdue University did the study with Jake Goheen, a former Purdue student now at the University of New Mexico. The two researchers estimate that several times as many walnuts grow when gathered by gray squirrels as compared to red squirrels. Gray squirrels and red squirrels do not store nuts and seeds in the same way. Gray squirrels bury nuts one at a time in a number of places. But they seldom remember where they buried every nut. So some nuts remain in the ground. Conditions are right for them to develop and grow the following spring. Red squirrels, however, store large groups of nuts above ground. Professor Swihart calls death traps for seeds".

Gray squirrels are native to Indiana. But Professor Swihart says their humbers began to descrease as more forests were cut for agriculture. Red squirrels began to spread through the state during the past century.

The researchers say red squirrels are native to forests that stay green all year, unlike walnut trees. They say the cleaning of forest land for agriculture has helped red squirrels invade Indiana. Jake Goheen calls them a sign of an environmental problem more than a cause.

For many years, a beautiful, white horse wandered the western plains. Native Americans saw him before the settlers came but never got close to him. Only one person ever touched the white horse. She was an old lady when she told the story to her grandchildren.

Gretchen's family came to Texas in a covered wagon when she was a very little girl. The oxen that pulled the wagons moved very slowly. There were no roads. The sun was hot. and the dust covered everything in sight.

The trip was especially tiresome for little Gretchen. To make it easier, she was allowed to ride an old horse named Nelly, a gentle animal with a slow pace. Gretchen's parents tied Gretchen securely to keep her from falling off.

One day, one of the wagons broke a wheel. When the wheel was being repaired, Nelly wandered along to an inviting area of green grass near the river bank with Gretchen, who had fallen asleep tied to the horse's back.

Suddenly, Gretchen awoke with a start, from across the river came the sound of a horse's whinny. There stood the beautiful white horse. His body was the colour of snow and his long mane and tail shone like silver thread.

The wild horse ran into a nearby canyon, and Nelly slowly followed behind. Gretchen cried out, but the wagon train was far away and no one could hear her. Finally, the horses came to a stop in a grassy valley. The white horse and old Nelly stood side by side eating grass.

Gretchen stared at the beautiful horse. He didn't seem at all afraid of her. Slowly she reached over to touch his neck. He lifted his head and looked at her with gentle, curious eyes. Then he put his head back down and ate the grass. The two horses seemed to have developed a bond, and Gretchen enjoyed being with them.

For over an hour the white horse stayed with old Nelly and Gretchen. Then just as the sun was getting low in the sky, Gretchen heard a familiar shout. Across the valley, she could see her father and several men headed toward her and the horses.

The white horse twitched （抽动）his ears in response to the men's shouts and then he was gone. The men stopped to watch as he ran across the valley and out of the canyon. Never again did he come close enough to be touched.