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View all search resultsSumatran elephants run out of room as fires spread
A new report by environmental group Geopix found that about 560,758 hectares of elephant habitat have been affected by fires between August and early September, equivalent to roughly one-tenth of the species’ total habitat on Sumatra.
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A mahout rides a Sumatra elephant on July 18 at the Conservation Response Unit in Bener Meriah in the highlands of Aceh province. (AFP/CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN)
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surge in wildfires across Sumatra is putting critically endangered Sumatran elephants at greater risk of extinction, with hundreds of thousands of hectares of their habitat now affected by fires.
A new report by environmental group Geopix found that about 560,758 ha of elephant habitat had been affected by fires between August and early September, equivalent to roughly one-tenth of the species’ total habitat on the island.
Between 1,320 and 1,635 Sumatran elephants are estimated to remain in the wild across Sumatra, according to official statistics. Their population has declined by as much as 45 percent over the past two decades.
”Dozens of landscapes with high conservation value are at risk of destruction due to the ongoing wildfire crisis,” Geopix senior wildlife campaigner Annisa Rahmawati said at the report’s launch in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.
Indonesia has been grappling with a surge in forest and peatland fires in recent weeks, with some of Sumatra’s most important biodiversity areas among those affected. Kalimantan and Papua have also reported extensive fires.
Read also: One orangutan dies, more rescued as wildfire rages
Forestry Ministry data showed that about 202,000 ha of land and forest had burned between January and late July, an area roughly three times the size of Jakarta.
