HOW A TINY VIRUS CAN KNOCK THE KNEES OUT FROM UNDER AN ELEPHANT!
The Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is a unique subspecies of the Asian elephant only found on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The Sumatran elephant has been placed on the list of Critically Endangered species after losing half of its population in a single generation.
Currently approximately 1,700 Sumatran elephants are left in the wild. Increasing fragmentation and loss of habitat has led to increased human-elephant-conflict (HEC). In the recent past, HEC has been handled by capturing the raiding elephants, driving them, or scaring them off using sound and fire. Increases in HEC incidents threaten elephants as this leads to both retribution killing and to the capture and removal of elephants, which remain in captivity and decreases the wild population.
Conservation Response Units (CRU) are an important development in the long-term strategy to conserve Sumatran wildlife. The CRU utilizes captive elephants, their mahouts, and local community representatives for direct, successful field-based conservation interventions. These units support the conservation of wild elephants and habitat, benefiting other wildlife as well, and create opportunities for local communities, achieving positive outcomes for both elephants and people.
CRU Tangkahan, introduced in 2002, has also been instrumental in developing ecotourism in this region. This established a significant alternative livelihood for the local community who were previously involved in illegal logging inside the Gunung Leuser National Park. Ecotourism also became a sustainability strategy for the CRU concept itself. Tangkahan is the longest established CRU unit who started to be self-sufficient through ecotourism development.
And then, that ‘tiny virus’ – COVID-19 – hit the scene! The government of Indonesia has shut down acess to visitors to all national parks and tourism operations including Tangkahan. With zero income from the tourism sector at the moment, the community in Tangkahan, including the rangers who are taking care of the elephants, have been badly impacted.
While Asian Elephant Support can’t return the tourists to Tangkahan, we can help keep this CRU’s elephants, their community rangers and staff together. AES recently wired funds to help with this emergency situation for three months so they can continue their conservation commitments. Now, our concern is whether the three months will be sufficient for tourism income to return.
