In 2020, AES supported a project in Way Kambas National Park in southern Sumatra to deploy a total of six GPS collars on wild elephants.
Last year AES agreed to continue support for this project in 2023 by providing for three of the older collars to be replaced as their battery life neared an end. A couple of months ago two of those collars were replaced on female elephants from resident herds. Recently the third collar was replaced on a resident bull named “Dugul” who is well known to local communities as he sometimes strays out of the National Park, but is not very destructive.
The Elephant Response Unit (ERU) teams monitor the collared elephants, ensuring they stay in the National Park and do not venture into nearby agricultural fields. Data collected from the collars helps the field staff better track elephant movement within the National Park. With this information ERU teams keep both human and elephant populations safe.
We are grateful for the efforts of the field staff of the Way Kambas National Park and of our in-country partner Komunitas Untuk Hutan Sumatera whose dedication supports the conservation of critically endangered Sumatran elephants.
