Elephant exploitation (2)

The big family of WWF-Indonesia would like to wish you a happy birthday and prosperous future on the occasion of your 17th birthday.

As a birthday gift, we are sending you this letter of concern regarding events celebrating your birthday.

Like other conservation organizations, we are deeply concerned with your tug-of-war event at Senayan Main Stadium on April 23, 2000.

With only about 3,000 to 4,500 wild elephants in Sumatra, your elephant entertainment conveyed an inaccurate perception of elephant conservation. Unfortunately, the challenge of dealing with habitat fragmentation of endangered species, such as the Sumatran elephants, is overshadowed by the games and attractions performed by those animals.

WWF Indonesia believes that creating a natural living space for the Sumatran elephants is important and seriously needed. By allowing the elephants to live in their natural habitats, we can reduce the need to house them at elephant centers and/or Taman Safari where they have to perform logging and entertainment services.

More than a dozen reputable international and Indonesian conservation organizations believe that conservation of endangered species is an in situ (habitat) conservation effort.

Since your celebration took place and images of the tug-of-war between elephant and human -- including a picture of The Jakarta Post General Manager riding on an elephant in Senayan Main Stadium -- have been printed and widely disseminated, we suggest that the Post publish a special supplement to highlight various threats and in situ conservation activities of Sumatran elephants.

AGUS PURNOMO

Executive Director

WWF-Indonesia

Jakarta