KUNMING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A group of 30 wild Asian elephants have been spotted in a nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Of the group, nine were calves, with three under one year old, according to a wild elephant observation and protection team based in the Wild Elephant Valley in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.

They were spotted Friday in the valley, which boasts sufficient water and plants and is a natural passage for a variety of animals.

This group of elephants is likely to have come to forage for minerals. A group of more than 50 were spotted in the same valley in early March. It is rare to see them in such large numbers in this season.

Wild Asian elephants, with a population of about 300 in China, are under Class A protection. In China, they are mainly scattered in southern Yunnan.

With stronger environmental and wildlife protection efforts, the number of wild Asian elephants in China has grown in recent years.