How the Sumatran Elephant Lost Half its Population in Just One Generation

The Sumatran elephant, which resides primarily in Indonesia, has been newly categorized as "critically endangered" due to massive area deforestation and agriculture.

According to Reuters, "IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, raised its listing of the Sumatran elephant subspecies from 'endangered' to 'critically endangered' after nearly 70 percent of its habitat and [half] its population has been lost in one generation."

While Sumatran elephants are protected by law, unfortunately a majority of their homes are not within safe areas.  Therefore, their habitats are quickly being converted into land for agricultural use.  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) asserts that unless appropriate action is taken, these magnificent animals could be extinct in less than 30 years.

And the Sumatran elephant isn't the only subspecies suffering; Carlos Drews, Director of Global Species Program for the WWF, told Reuters that other Indonesian animals on the "critically endangered" list include the Sumatran orangutan, the Sumatran tiger, and the Javan and Sumatran rhinos.

According to Reuters, WWF has "called on the Indonesian government to prohibit all forest conversion in elephant habitats until a conservation strategy is devised." We can only hope that none of these beautiful animals will suffer the same fate as the Bali tiger and Java tiger; both Indonesian subspecies went extinct in the past 70 years.