Sumatran Elephants
The Sumatra is a large Island in Western Indonesia that is a part of the Sunda
Islands. This island has a wide range of plants and animals species but it has
lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years and many
species are critically endangered such as the Sumatran elephant, Sumatran
tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Sumatran orangutan. They feed on a
variety of plants and deposit seeds wherever they go, contributing to a
healthy forest ecosystem.
The scientific name of Sumatran elephants is Elephas maximus sumatranus. They
are one of three recognized subspecies of Asian elephant, and native to the
Indonesia island of Sumatra. The Sumatran elephants are extremely rare today,
with estimates in 2000 putting Sumatran elephant number at just over 2000
individuals. The current Sumatran elephant population is estimated at 2400
wild individuals. They are critically endangered animal.
Characteristics
Asian elephants are slightly smaller than African elephants. Adult Asian
elephants weigh on average between 6000 and 12000 pounds. The Asian elephants are found in India, Southeast Asia, including
Sumatra and Borneo. Their skin is grey in color. The Asian elephant have the highest body point on the
head. The tip of their trunk has one finger like process. Their back is convex
or someone have leveled Females are usually smaller than males. And they have
short tusk or no tusk.
The Sumatran elephants reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.2 m and have
a weigh between 2000 and 4000 kg (4400 and 8800 lb). They have 20 pairs of
ribs.
Habitat, Ecology, Behavior and Diet
Elephants largely use lowland forests and hills below an attitude of 300 m.
Forest loss in the lowlands is higher than the forest loss at all heights and
including habitats such as peat forests, where elephants are not present.
Their life span is about 55 to 70 years. Their skin color is Grey, Brown, and
Black. Female elephants stop reproducing after 60 years of age. Female captive
elephants have survived for until 75 years while male elephants have survived
up to 60 years. The elephant’s baby is able to stand up on its own after 10 to
30 minutes.
They are herbivore animals meaning that they only eat plants to gain all of
the nutrients that they to survive. They eat wide variety of vegetation
including leaves, shoots, barks, fruits, seeds, grasses, and nuts.
Threats
The major threats are due to conversion of forests area into human settlement
and agriculture areas, many of the Sumatran elephant’s population have lost
their habitats. And the result, many elephants have been killed or they are
removed from the wild. In addition, most of the elephants are target of
illegal killing for their ivory. From 1985 to 2007, 50% of Sumatran elephants
died. And 69% of Sumatran elephant habitat lost in between 1980 and 2005. Riau
and Lampung are the two provinces in which entire elephants population have
disappeared as a result of habitat loss. After half of its population was lost
in one generation, the Sumatran elephant’s status was changed from endangered
to critically endanger in 2012.
Most of the Sumatran elephants found in Sumatran camps were captured. The
decrease in the population of elephant’s habitat for illegal conversion of
agriculture still continues.
Sumatran elephants have smaller tusks but they are enough to persuade poachers
who kill the animals and sell their tusks on the illegal ivory market. Only
male Asian elephants have tusks.
The conservationists think that Sumatran elephants may become extinct in less
then 10 years if killing, poaching is not stopped.
"STOP DEFORESTATION AND ILLEGAL TRADE OF IVORY"
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