Peusangan River Hit by Disaster, Sumatran Elephant Ecosystem Altered

Bener Meriah (ANTARA) — The Peusangan River watershed, located in Negeri Antara Village, Pintu Rime Gayo District, Bener Meriah Regency, Aceh, has been affected by the Sumatra disaster, causing changes to the Sumatran elephant ecosystem.

Field observations show that the Peusangan River has experienced landslides at several points, with the river’s width expanding by approximately 200 metres.

“After the disaster, there have indeed been some changes, because we have to search for food for the tame elephants, and several locations where they used to feed have disappeared due to landslides,” said Wahdi, a tame elephant keeper at the Peusangan Watershed Conservation Response Unit (CRU) in Negeri Antara Village, on Sunday.

“The same goes for the places where we usually take them to drink — we can no longer go down to those spots because they have turned into cliffs,” he added.

Elephants are animals with strong spatial memory, making them loyal to habitual routes passed down through generations. The damage to the ecosystem has therefore disrupted the behavioural patterns of elephant herds.

The Peusangan Watershed CRU currently manages three tame Sumatran elephants with an average age of 35 years.

Caring for the elephants involves training them to walk daily in accordance with their natural ecosystem.

“Then there is some routine training — exercises for lifting their feet, as well as maintenance procedures such as getting them to open their mouths so we can see their teeth and check whether there are any dental problems or other issues,” Wahdi explained.

The Sumatra disaster has also affected wild elephant herds in the area surrounding the Peusangan watershed.

According to Wahdi, he frequently observes wild elephant herds struggling to cross the Peusangan River, which has now become significantly wider.

To continue safeguarding the elephant ecosystem, President Prabowo Subianto has previously committed to supporting Sumatran elephant conservation efforts, as the species’ population is currently under threat.

The government has recently granted a 20,000-hectare land concession to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a concrete step to assist elephant conservation, given that the animals’ ecosystem is threatened by wildlife conflict in Aceh.