WCS 3-Sentence Science

A Baseline for Sumatran Elephants

November 22, 2019

CREDIT: PAUL HILTON FOR WCS

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS’s Valentine Kheng on developing baseline information on elephants in Sumatra.

1. Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) are now critically endangered due to habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation, poaching and human elephant conflict (HEC).
2. Researchers conducted baseline research on Sumatran elephants in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) to determine sex, age, and distribution.
3. The results revealed that 30.8 percent were sub-adult males, 21.2 percent were sub-adult females, 13.5 percent were adult females, 9.6 percent were adult males and 5.8 percent were juvenile males, with 19.2 percent sex of the samples unconfirmed.

Study and Journal: “Determinaton of sex, age, and spatial distribution of Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park” from AIP Conference Proceedings
WCS Co-Author(s): Valentine Kheng, Technical Support for Country Director, WCS Indonesia Program.

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.