Why is it important to conserve the Sumatran Elephants?

We can analyse this question from the following points of views.

 Ecological perspective

• Elephants play an important role in the ecosystem
• They consume a whole range of plants and deposit seeds as they move from place to place and this is instrumental in building a healthy rainforest ecosystem.

 Social-economic perspective

• Sumatran elephants live in habitats that have intricate ecosystem functions.
• These are vital to the locals of Sumatra and supply them with necessary resources such as traditional medicine, dye for coloring traditional clothes, food and water etc.
• Forests also provide protection from from natural disasters such as floods and landslides and human-wildlife conflict.
• Ultimately, protecting the habitats of the Sumatran elephants would also be protecting the people of Sumatra themselves.

 Animal-human attachment and identity

• The Sumatran elephant is considered a flagship species (chosen to raise support for biodiversity conservation) and charismatic mega-fauna (popular species that has widespread appeal and  are often used to achieve environmentalist goals). 
• Hence, the Sumatran people would feel the need to protect the species and to prevent its extinction.

With that, let us now delve into what has been done and what can be done to conserve the Sumatran Elephant!