The smallest of the Asian elephants, the Sumatran elephant's numbers have declined by an astonishing 80% in less than 25 years due to deforestation, habitat loss and human-elephant conflict in Sumatra. Around 2,400 to 2,800 individuals survive today.
Male Asian elephants have relatively small tusks, but poachers still kill to sell them in the illegal ivory market, thus skewing the sex ratio among wild elephants and making future breeding and species survival difficult.
Dear President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia and the island of Sumatra are considered safe havens for endangered species, especially the Sumatran elephant. Except now, due to increasing deforestation efforts in Sumatra, the Sumatran elephant faces certain extinction if something is not done. The International Union of the Conservation of Nature upgraded the status of the Sumatran elephant to “critically endangered” after the organization documented the disappearance of nearly two-thirds of the species’ habitat in a single generation. Alarmingly, in the past 25 years, 69% of the Sumatran elephant’s habitat has vanished at the hand of deforestation and human conflict. If the government does not take aggressive, preventative action soon, the Sumatran elephant will certainly go extinct within the next few decades. To protect these majestic, gentle creatures large protected habitat patches must be designated immediately. Without these protected areas, elephants will continue to fall victim to unchecked habitat loss. Sincerely, [Your Name Here]
