The Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is one of three types of Asian elephants. It lives on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. In 2011, the IUCN changed the Sumatran elephant's conservation status to critically endangered. This was because the population dropped by at least 80% over the past 75 years, which is about three generations. The main threats to the Sumatran elephant are habitat loss, damage, and broken-up habitats. Poaching is also a problem. More than 69% of the elephant's possible habitat has been lost in the last 25 years. Most of the remaining forest areas are in small sections, each less than 250 square kilometers (about 97 square miles). These small areas are too small to support healthy elephant populations.

Characteristics

The Asian elephant has a back that is either convex or level, with the highest point on the head. The tip of its trunk has a single finger-like structure. Female Asian elephants are usually smaller than males and have short tusks or no tusks. The Sumatran elephant has 20 pairs of ribs, reaches a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.2 meters (6 feet 7 inches and 10 feet 6 inches), and weighs between 2,000 and 4,000 kilograms (4,400 and 8,800 pounds). Its skin color is lighter than that of the Sri Lankan and Indian elephants, even when they have the least amount of color loss.

Distribution and habitat

The Sumatran elephant was once found throughout Sumatra. In the 1980s, Riau Province likely had the largest group of elephants on the island, with more than 1,600 individuals. A survey in 1985 found between 2,800 and 4,800 elephants living in eight mainland provinces across 44 areas. Twelve of these areas were in Lampung Province. By 2002, only three groups of elephants remained in Lampung. In Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, there were about 498 elephants, and in Way Kambas National Park, about 180 elephants. A third group in the Gunung Rindingan–Way Waya area was too small to survive long-term.

By 2008, elephants had disappeared from 23 of the 43 areas identified in 1985, showing a major drop in the Sumatran elephant population. At that time, elephants were no longer found in West Sumatra Province and were at risk of disappearing from North Sumatra Province as well. In Riau Province, only about 350 elephants remained in nine areas.

As of 2007, the Sumatran elephant population was estimated to be between 2,400 and 2,800 wild individuals, not including those in camps. These elephants lived in 25 broken-up groups across the island. More than 85% of their habitat was outside protected areas.

In Aceh, groups of Sumatran elephants tracked with radio collars preferred dense forests near rivers and mountains at elevations below 200 meters (660 feet). At night, they moved into mixed forests and foraged near human settlements.

Ecology and behaviour

Female elephants stop having babies after about 60 years of age. In the wild, the longest lifespan for female elephants is around 60 years. Female elephants in captivity have lived up to 75 years, while male elephants in the wild live up to about 60 years. Female elephants usually give birth at night, and the birth process lasts about 10 seconds. A healthy baby elephant can typically stand on its own within 30 minutes after being born.

Female elephants reach their full size at a younger age and grow more quickly than male elephants. Male elephants grow to a larger size overall and continue growing for a longer time as they age.

Threats

Because forests are being changed into places where people live, farming areas, and plantations, many Sumatran elephants have lost their homes to humans. This has caused many elephants to be taken from the wild or killed. Between 1980 and 2005, 69% of the area where Sumatran elephants could live was lost in just one generation of elephants.

Most elephants in Sumatran camps were captured after they damaged crops in protected areas. The loss of elephant habitat continues because people illegally turn forests into farmland and palm oil plantations. Between 2012 and 2015, 36 elephants were found dead in Aceh Province because of electrocution, poisoning, or traps. Most of these dead elephants were near palm oil plantations, which elephants sometimes try to destroy when searching for food.

Sumatran elephants prefer lower areas and less steep slopes, such as those near rivers and mountain valleys. Humans also prefer these areas, which causes competition between elephants and people for the same space. Efforts to protect crops, such as trying to drive elephants away from fields or moving them deeper into forests, have limited some elephants’ ability to reach these areas.

Conservation

The Asian elephant is on the CITES Appendix I list. The Sumatran elephant is protected by Indonesian laws. From 1986 to 1995, 520 wild elephants were captured and placed in six Elephant Training Centres. These centres were created in 1986 in the provinces of Lampung, Aceh, Bengkulu, North and South Sumatra, and Riau. Capturing wild elephants stopped in 1999 because keeping them was too costly, the centres could not pay for themselves, and some centres had too many elephants. By the end of 2000, 391 elephants were in the centres, and a few more were in zoos, safari parks, and tourist areas.

In 2004, Tesso Nilo National Park was created in Riau Province to protect the Sumatran elephant’s habitat. This forest is one of the few remaining areas large enough to support a healthy group of elephants.