Today, we welcome back Leif Cocks, founder of the International Elephant Project, based in Sumatra. The International Elephant Project (IEP) is a not-for-profit project for elephant conservation, rainforest protection and local community partnerships, in order to protect and save the entire ecosystem and biodiversity of habitats shared by elephants.
The Sumatran elephant is critically endangered. The current population is estimated at 1,200-1,500. Threats to their survival is in part due to habitat loss, where Sumatra has experienced one of the highest rates of deforestation within the Asian elephant’s habitat range as well as human-elephant conflict because as plantations and fields move into elephant habitat, elephant food sources and migration routes are compromised. As elephants looking for food raid crops, retaliation killing occurs.
In this podcast, we will learn:
How the International Elephant Project works to protect and conserve the Sumatran elephant living in degraded human dominated landscapes alongside the indigenous peoples due to rapid destruction of the rainforest for plantations.
How the Elephant Conflict Monitoring and Mitigation Unit works hand in hand with the community to reduce human-elephant conflict.
How the elephants and indigenous community are forced to adapt to a new environment quickly due to massive destruction of the rainforest.
The adoption program International Elephant Project has to support the Sumatran elephant.
What humans can learn from elephants and their culture.
How to help the International Elephant Project continue to conserve and protect the Sumatran elephant in this critical time.
