LOVE ELEPHANTS WITH TULUS
By: Natalia Trita Agnika
The news of Yongki's death on Friday (9/18/2015) is still fresh in our minds. Yongki's tragic death caused public sadness and concern. Expressions of grief flowed on social media through the hashtag #RIPYongki. Yongki was a special elephant. Apart from being a charismatic animal with an ecological role as an umbrella animal, the docile elephant was also a member of the Elephant Patrol team.
In Elephant Patrol, Yongki acts as a herding elephant. Together with the WWF-Indonesia Elephant Patrol Team and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, he searches for wild elephant tracks, herds and drives them back to the forest, then escorts the herding team back to the post. Yes, her presence has helped resolve human-wild elephant conflict. The existence of the Elephant Patrol Team is very important because the intensity of conflict between elephants and humans is increasing.
One of the causes of the increasing conflict between elephants and humans is the high rate of forest deforestation, which has reduced elephant habitat. The conversion of forests into oil palm plantations has also reduced elephant habitat. The loss of habitat for these charismatic animals has forced them into populated areas. It is not uncommon for many elephants to be captured or killed because they are considered intruders.
Various efforts have been made to support elephant conflict mitigation. One of them is to understand the movement and habitat use by elephant groups by installing GPS Satellite Collar on wild elephant groups that often come into conflict with the community. The installation of GPS Satellite Collars is very useful for monitoring the presence and movement of wild elephants and as an early warning for elephant conflict mitigation. Thus, information on the presence and movement of wild elephants will be known more accurately.
Now Yongki is gone, but there are still many other elephants that need our care. WWF-Indonesia's study shows that the population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is becoming increasingly alarming. The estimated population in 2007 was between 2,400-2,800 individuals, but it is now estimated to have declined far from that number due to habitat shrinkage and ongoing killings.
Tulus is one of the public figures who was moved to save elephants. Moreover, Yongki is an elephant who was once the "star" of his music video. The "Gajah" singer did not just condemn Yongki's killers, but also took action by initiating the #Do Not Kill Elephants campaign.
The #JanganBunuhGajah campaign is a campaign to save Sumatran elephants initiated by singer Tulus and supported by WWF-Indonesia. Tulus was moved to help socialize anti-poaching activities of elephants for their ivory. Through the sale of merchandise with elephant pictures, he raises funds and the profits will be given to WWF-Indonesia for the installation of GPS Satellite Collar.
You can also help Sumatran Elephant conservation efforts through the #Don't Kill the Elephant program. Your donation will be used for training to prevent conflict between elephants and humans, purchasing equipment for the patrol team, medical examination equipment for injured elephants, and funding the daily operations of Patrol team members.
It would be wonderful if humans and elephants could coexist harmoniously and utilize their respective spaces. Let's love elephants sincerely, #Don'tKillElephants !
