By: Valeria Gallippi |
The gentle giants in their remarkable forestSumatran elephants are currently the second largest land animal on the planet, coming behind African elephants. The Sumatran elephants are a type of Asian elephant, with the specie name Elephas maximus. There are several ways one is able to distinguish a Sumatran elephant from an African elephant. These include them having smaller ears, more of a curved spine than the African elephant and Asian elephants have three toes on their front legs while African elephants have four toes.Unlike the African elephants, female Sumatran elephants usually don't have tusks but if she does have some, they are generally hardly visible and can only be seen when she opens her mouth. Sumatran elephants are herbivorous animals meaning that they only eat plans and plant matter as a means of gaining nutrients needed for them to survive. They eat a wide variety of vegetable such as grasses, leaves, shoots, barks, fruits, nuts and seeds.
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Sumatra is home to the most significant Asian Elephant population outside of India and is geographically part of the Indonesian archipelago with the equator passing through it which influences its warm climate and rainy weather. It is also due to its location that it has lots of vegetation. However, within its Asian Elephant range, Sumatra has experienced one of the most rapid deforestation rates. These elephants have been placed on the list of critically endangered species after loosing half of its population in a single generation, encouraging calls from conservation groups for emergency measures to stop the destruction of its habitat. Because deforestation is the primary reason for the decrease in numbers in Indonesia, which has until recently been seen alongside India and Sri Lanka as one of the last great refuges for elephants in Asia, the animal is now at risk for becoming extinct within decades. |
Elephants are great swimmers and love taking a nice cool bath
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