Sumatran 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.
A new report reveals that fires have severely impacted Sumatran elephant habitats, threatening their survival. The environmental group Geopix discovered that approximately 560,758 hectares of crucial elephant territory were scorched between August and early September, representing roughly one-tenth of the species' entire habitat on the island of Sumatra.
This surge in wildfires is putting critically endangered Sumatran elephants at an increased risk of extinction, with an estimated 1,320 to 1,635 individuals remaining in the wild across the Indonesian island. Their population has diminished by up to 45 percent over the past two decades.
Annisa Rahmawati, a senior wildlife campaigner at Geopix, expressed concern during the report's launch in Central Jakarta, stating that "Dozens of landscapes with high conservation value are at risk of destruction due to the ongoing wildfire crisis." Indonesia has been grappling with a significant increase in forest and peatland fires in recent weeks.
While Sumatra has borne the brunt of the destruction, with some of the island's most important biodiversity areas affected, neighboring regions such as Kalimantan and Papua have also reported extensive fires. Forestry Ministry data indicates that about 202,000 hectares of land and forest burned between January and late July, an area roughly three times the size of Jakarta.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
