This handout picture taken and released by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry on November 28, 2023, shows a female Sumatran elephant calf standing between her mother痴 legs at the Elephant Response Unit (ERU) camp, in Margahayu, Kuala Penet, Lampung province. A critically endangered Sumatran elephant was born in Indonesia on November 28, officials said, the second rare birth in weeks that has given renewed hope to conservation efforts. Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction with only about 2,400-2,800 left in the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. (Photo by INDONESIAN MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY / AFP) / ----EDITORS NOTE---- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / INDONESIAN MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
A critically endangered Sumatran elephant was born, officials said, the second rare birth in weeks that has given renewed hope to conservation efforts.
Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction with only about 2,400-2,800 left in the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Weighing about 78kg, the calf was born at Way Kambas National Park in the nation’s southern Sumatra, the Environment and Forestry Ministry said.
It was born at an elephant centre inside the national park at around 10am local time on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement. The gender was not given.
A male elephant was born at the same national park this month, to a different mother and in good health, the second such birth this year.
On Saturday, a critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born at the same national park. Less than 80 are estimated to be left in the world.
“Good news comes to us one after another,” Indonesian environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in the statement.
“This good news should encourage us Indonesians to continue the conservation efforts of protected species in the country.”
The elephant population is threatened by rampant poaching for their tusks, which are prized in the illegal wildlife trade.
The archipelago nation faces an ongoing battle against wildlife crime and several elephant poisoning cases have been reported in recent years. — AFP
