The Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is a rare subspecies that lives in the Indonesian Island, Sumatra. The elephant has lost much of its original habitat because of massive human-hunting.
Sumatran Elephant 🐘Facts
Asian elephants much less Sumatran elephants are significantly smaller than the African elephants. Adult males are bigger than adult females. Females have a very small tusk sometimes they lack one.
Sumatran elephants can stand 6.6 and 10.5 feet tall and weighs 4,400 and 8,800 pounds. The Asian elephants are more likely to possess a light-colored coat as compared to the African subspecies.
Adult elephants can drink 80 – 200 liters of water each day. They will eat 112 different plants species. Sumatran elephant’s diet includes grasses, barks, fruits, leaves, seeds, and shoots.
Baby Sumatr
an elephants can stand on their legs 30 minutes after birth.
Sumatran elephants have a lifespan of 60 – 75 years in the wild. Females do not reproduce after reaching 60 years age.
The only predator of baby Sumatran elephant is a Sumatran tiger.
The primary threats to the Sumatran elephant population are poaching, degradation, habitat loss, and fragmentation.
There was a time when the Sumatran elephant was widespread all over the Riau Province with an estimated population of 4,800. However scientists estimate that Sumatran elephants are becoming extinct in their primary habitats. Currently there are 2,400–2,800 elephants living in the entire Sumatran Island.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed Sumatran elephants as Critically Endangered species.
