Tag Archive | Sumatran Elephant
November 15, 2012  

PETA offers reward over killing of 3 elephants in Indonesia

Fox News Latino

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, offered Tuesday a $1,000 reward for information leading to the identification of those who killed three elephants on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, media reports said.

The three pachyerm specimens – two adult females and a 1-year-old baby elephant – were found dead over the weekend in Tesso Nilo National Park, a wildlife preserve surrounded by oil palm plantations in central Sumatra, The Jakarta Globe reported.

What is most probable is that the elephants were poisoned as an act of revenge for the destruction of the huts of workers producing palm oil, park director Kupin Simbolon said.

“Those cowardly killers should be arrested and put on trial,” the vice president of PETA in Asia, Jasin Baker, said in a statement.

The World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, said early this year that the Sumatran elephant is at risk of extinction during the next 30 years, its classification having gone from “endangered” to “critically endangered” due to deforestation.

The population of Sumatran elephants grows smaller every year in Indonesia due to illegal logging, oil palm plantations and other threats to their habitat. EFE

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September 20, 2012  

Sumatran Elephant Gives Birth in Aceh

 

Banda Aceh. “Suci,” a rare Sumatran elephant, gave birth to a baby girl at the Sampoiniet Conservation Response Unit (CRU) in Aceh Jaya district, Aceh early Tuesday morning.

The 20-year-old elephant was impregnated by a wild elephant living in the forested area near the conservation camp, Wahdi Azmi, Field Manager of Flora Fauna International (FFI) Aceh, said.

The birth was welcome news for conservationists working to save an animal from the brink of extinction.

Read all about it in Our print edition of the Jakarta Globe. Please subscribe to receive the paper every day in your home or office.

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July 31, 2012  

Road Construction in Aceh Fragment Wildlife Habitat.

Road construction in Aceh fragmenting forest, causing environmental destruction and disconnecting wildlife corridor. Photo: Chik Rini

By Chik Rini (Contributor Aceh), July 28, 2012 8:22 am
Mongabay Indonesia

Road development connecting districts in Aceh within the last 10 years has (at least) disconnect six wildlife corridors in Leuser Ecosystem and Ulu Masen Ecosystem. These are two vitally important ecosystem in Sumatra, amounting to 3.3 million hectares. It is also the only place in the world where four endangered Sumatran mammals share habitat: Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Sumatran Elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abeii). This area is also home to about 4,500 flora and fauna species of Indo Malaya, some considered very rare and perhaps many more unidentified.

A number of non-governmental organizations and environmentalists including Walhi Aceh, Transparency International Indonesia (Aceh Program), WWF Indonesia (Aceh Program), Leuser International Foundation, Uno Itam, PeNA, Aceh NGO Forum and Aceh Human Rights NGO Coalition, Friday (27/7) lodged a protest over Aceh government plan to continue inter-district road construction until 2017.

Executive Director of the Leuser International Foundation (LIF), Agus Halim, said the construction of roads linking areas in the South West Coast – Central Highland – North and East Coast of Aceh are causing fragmentation of Leuser and Ulu Masen ecosystem. Disconnecting wildlife corridor in many locations and narrowing wildlife distribution areas.

“We documented wildlife corridor disconnected in many locations throughout the entire Aceh forest, areas that has been pockets of habitat for endangered species such as elephants, tigers, rhinos and orangutans” he said, in Aceh, on Friday.

LIF noted, the route that disconnected these wildlife corridor include Babahrot – Trangon, cutting through Southwest Aceh district and Gayo Lues district. Blangkejeren – Pinding – Lokop route, cutting through wildlife corridor in Leuser Ecosystem in Gayo Lues district. Muara Situlen – Gelombang route cutting through South East Aceh and Subulussalam fragmenting wildlife corridor between Gunung Leuser National Park and Singkil Swamp Wildlife sanctuary.

Then Pondok Baru – Samarkilang route in Bener Meriah district separating corridor in central and north Leuser, and Jeuram – Beutong Ateuh that cut through Central Aceh and Nagan Raya disconnecting wildlife corridor between Leuser and Ulu Masen. Followed by road between Lamno – Jantho – Keumala – Pameu, cutting through Greater Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Pidie and Pidie Jaya disconnecting northern wildlife corridor of Leuser and Ulu Masen.

“We believe many other corridors that connect these pockets of important wildlife habitat in Leuser and Ulu Masen are also destroyed to small scale unplanned and unlicensed road that is operating now.” He added

According to Agus, one of the evident of disrupted wildlife corridors is increased frequency of human-wildlife conflict in Aceh, especially conflict with elephants and tigers. Animal with extensive migratory range is cornered by their fragmented habitat. “Plus, large-scale land conversion of forest to cropland, large-scale plantation, mining and human settlement has worsen the problems.”

LIF has noted, elephant distribution route is cut-off in at least 13 locations. Several pockets of elephant habitat are no longer ideal due to severe fragmentation making the area too small to support elephant population. Agus draw example of Pinding – Lesten route, Pinding – Lokop route, Jeuram – Beutong Ateuh route and area of Manggamat and Gelombang.

The roads build across these high-conservation-value-forest also have severe side-effects, including opening access for illegal timber harvest and wildlife poaching.

Greenomics studies stated, construction of roads in the forest would result in deforestation rates ranged from 400 to 2400 hectares per kilo meters of roads. Leuser ecosystem is estimated to be fragmented into 12 smaller piece.

Aceh has the best forests in Sumatra. Even in Southeast Asia, this is the only forest area consisting of two blocks of intact forest ecosystem; Leuser and Ulu Masen ecosystem. Unfortunately, wildlife corridors of this unique forest ecosystem is facing the threat from road construction plans.

Executive Director of TM Walhi Aceh. Zulfikar request the government to review the plans to continue the construction of those roads. “Better to focus on improving the community through other sectors of the economy that is more environmentally sound,” said Zulfikar.

They warned the new Aceh government that the construction of these roads has the potential to violates various laws and regulations, including Law no.11/2006 concerning Law on Governing Aceh, Law 41/1999 on Forestry, Law 26/2007 on Spatial Planning juncto Government Regulation 26/2008, Law 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Law 5/1990 on Conservation of Natural Resources and Ecosystem.

The protest for this road construction plan is due to its wide ecological impact. “This will open doors to forest destruction in Aceh, destroy wildlife corridors and increase human-wildlife conflict, destroy water catchment and disrupt hydrological cycle. These disaster will have huge economic consequences for Aceh people and its government.”

This road project is part of the continuing development Ladia Galaska road, which slice Leuser forest in Babahrot – Blangkejeren – Pinding – Pasir Putih route, Terangon – Tongra route, Pinding – Lokop – Peunaron route, Muara Situlen – Gelombang route, Simpang Tritit – New cottage – Samarkilang route. Trumon – Bulohseuma – Kuala Baru route, Kuala Tuha – Lamie route, Krueng Geukeuh – Bener Meriah border route, Simpang kebanyakan – North Aceh district boundary and the Ulu Masen Jantho – Lamno – Keumala – Pameu.

June 23, 2012  

New Study: Species Gravely Endangered by Global Trade of Commodities like Palm Oil

Written by Ashley Schaeffer

Sumatran Elephants: Critically Endangered Due to Palm Oil and Pulp & Paper Plantation Expansion

A new study led by the University of Sydney appeared in the Journal Nature recently, warning that nearly a third of animal species under threat in developing nations are linked to global trade of manufactured goods and commodities such as palm oil. As the researchers put it: “Human activities are causing the globe’s sixth major extinction event.”

As reported in Reuters, this is the first time that the important role of international trade and foreign consumption as a driver of threats to species has been comprehensively quantified.

In what has already been a devastating year for Sumatran tigers, orangutans and elephants, this study doesn’t bode well for these three species already on the IUCN’s list of critically endangered species, largely due to the encroachment of palm oil and pulp & paper plantations into their habitat:

Here we show that a significant number of species are threatened as a result of international trade along complex routes, and that, in particular, consumers in developed countries cause threats to species through their demand of commodities that are ultimately produced in developing countries. We linked 25,000 Animalia species threat records from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List to more than 15,000 commodities produced in 187 countries and evaluated more than 5 billion supply chains in terms of their biodiversity impacts. Excluding invasive species, we found that 30% of global species threats are due to international trade.

Take, for example, the dire situation with Sumatran elephants. In January of this year, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — the world’s leading authority on conservation status of species — upgraded the status of Sumatran elephants from endangered to critically endangered. This came in response to the risk assessment after tracking the loss of 69% of the animal’s habitat over the past 25 years. With their forest homes burned, felled or converted to palm oil and pulp & paper plantations, the wild population has fallen to no more than 2,800.

To add insult to injury, earlier this month at least four elephants were poisoned and killed at a palm oil plantation in the Aceh Province of Sumatra, Indonesia. And a week later, more devastating news: half of the Congo’s forest elephants were killed in the last 5 years.

The links between biodiversity loss and the increased trafficking of commodities like palm oil through complex supply chains are more clear than ever. As a North American consumer, I am more aware than ever that my choices at the grocery store have a huge impact on the ground in the countries where commodities such as palm oil, found in half of all manufactured goods, come from. If you want to know why, check out this palm oil infographic.

According to the study, the United States, the European Union and Japan are the main destinations for commodities associated with species threats, while Indonesia and Malaysia are among the biggest exporters. It’s therefore no coincidence that nearly 90% of the world’s palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, where so many incredible species teeter on the brink of extinction.

To combat biodiversity loss, big commodity traders like Cargill must adopt critical supply chain safeguards immediately.

May 4, 2012  

WWF calls for probe into elephant death

WWF calls for probe into elephant death
From correspondents in Aceh Jaya, Indonesia From: AFP May 03, 2012 2:01AM

ENVIRONMENTAL organisation WWF has called on the Indonesian government to investigate the death of a critically endangered Sumatran elephant allegedly poisoned at an oil palm plantation.

A ranger at the plantation in Aceh Jaya on Sumatra island said he found the 18-year-old female elephant dying on Monday and that locals reported they had seen it walking around with a calf earlier that day.

“We call on the authorities to investigate how the elephant died. If she died from poisoning, we hope authorities will do something about educating locals,” WWF’s Aceh program leader Dede Suhendra told AFP.

“People here in Sumatra who own plantations and farms often kill elephants, tigers too, because they see them as pests.”

Mukhtar, the ranger, said he believed the elephant had been poisoned.

“When I found her, she was foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the rectum, which are strong signs of poisoning,” he said, adding that he was unable to save her with medicine.

Mukhtar said the elephant’s calf was “crying” and “making noises” of distress as it stood by its mother dying on the ground.

Suhendra said that conflict between animals in the jungle and humans had increased in the past decade as swathes of forest are cleared for agriculture.

WWF changed the Sumatran elephant’s status from “endangered” to “critically endangered” in January, largely due to severe habitat loss driven by oil palm and paper plantations.

There are less than 3000 Sumatran elephants remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, marking a 50 per cent drop in numbers since 1985.

source: Herald Sun

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