Sumatran elephants are critically endangered elephants, native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They are a subspecies of the Asian elephant. These elephants are known to play an important role in maintain a healthy forest ecosystem. The reason is because they consume a variety of plants and deposit seeds wherever they go, hence their importance.
Like many others, Sumatran elephants too became critically endangered by 2011. The main reasons for this are loss of habitat, and conflicts with humans.
As a result, the wild animals enter human settlements and cause damage. This sparks off a conflict between Man and animal, and ends in the death of the latter.
Apart from these reasons, Sumatran elephants are also hunted for their tusks.
As a measure to conserve these animals, the Tesso Nilo National Park was established in the Riau Province in 2004.
Picture credit: google
