The Sumatran elephant is protected by Indonesia’s Law No. 5/1990 on Sustainable Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation.

In 1999, there was also a regulation renewed by the Declaration of the Minister of Agriculture to protect them and this regulation was initiated to protect both the wild and domesticated Sumatran elephants. It disallowed any form of hunting, trading or the possession of the animal or their parts. This was unless the subject had a government permit allowing them to do otherwise.

Punishment for those who break this law would be fined Rp. 200 million (equivalent to more than USD 14, 000!) and/or a jail term of at least 5 years!

Even with this regulation in place, the number of Sumatran elephants getting poached was not seeing an effective decrease. This was because farmers and villagers near the elephant habitats kill the elephants as a retaliation or solution to stop them from destroying their agriculture or property, rather than to domesticate them or hunt them for ivory.