Baby elephant separated from its mother rescued in Indonesia March 11, 2025

A rescued two-month-old male Sumatran wild elephant, separated from his mother on a palm oil plantation, sleeps (WAHYUDI) (WAHYUDI/AFP/AFP)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Baby elephant separated from its mother rescued in Indonesia

Indonesian authorities have rescued a critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf after it became separated from its mother in a palm oil plantation, a local official said on Tuesday.

Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction, with only around 2,400 to 2,800 left in the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

The two-month-old male calf was found in a palm plantation in Riau province on the western island of Sumatra on Monday, after locals alerted the authorities, Ujang Holisudin, an official with the local conservation agency, told AFP.

“We suspect that this elephant was left behind by its group or its mother,” said Ujang, adding that the calf was alone when the authorities found it.

The baby elephant is in good health after medical examinations and has been taken to the conservation agency's elephant training center near the provincial capital, Pekanbaru, he said.

Authorities were monitoring elephant herds near the area to see if the calf could be reunited with its family.

“We hope that the group can be found and that we can reunite (the calf). That's our hope,” said Ujang.

Elephant populations are threatened by rampant poaching for their tusks, which are valued in the illegal wildlife trade.

The Southeast Asian nation is struggling with wildlife crime and several cases of elephant poisoning have been reported in recent years.

Deforestation has also reduced the elephants' natural habitat and brought them into increasing conflict with humans.

mrc/jfx/pbt