Sumatran elephants trained to become tourist attraction

Sumatran elephants trained to become tourist attraction

By Bernard Estrade

WAY KAMBAS, Indonesia (AFP): More than 140 elephants stretch as far as the eye can see along a bare hilltop amidst the scraggy forests of this southern region of Sumatra island.

From time to time, raucous trumpeting resonates on top of the continuous metallic jangling of heavy chains which hold the tightly fettered legs of each pachyderm to a thick concrete post.

Way Kambas, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of the provincial capital of Bandar Lampung, is the first and most important of six centers set up in Sumatra since 1985 in a bid to deal with the elephants, threatened by population growth and increasing development.

Here, the elephants learn "to become productive," as the official terminology states, and to become "actors in economic, notably touristic, development."

They are taught a profession: some are to work in the forest, carrying blocks of wood, while some will be trained to help control the herd and even capture wild elephants.

Most, however, learn to play an elephantine form of soccer or basketball and perform circus numbers to the delight of tourists who crowd into Way Kambas on festival days and weekends. Others are destined for zoos.

"It's that or the slaughter house," said an environmental specialist, who requested anonymity, to explain why these so- called "training centers for elephants" and the often brutal methods needed to train the animals are not condemned more loudly by environmentalists.

As in many other tropical countries confronted by the same situation, notably in Africa, the origins of the problem are simple.

In 1905, Lampung province had a population of only 150,000 compared with six millions today. Density rose from five inhabitants per square kilometer to more than 180.

And while the island is known for producing spices and sandalwood, Sumatra has developed and now also produces petroleum and lumber, the two principal sources of hard currency for Indonesia.

Indonesia had considered slaughtering the elephants. But, after much debate, officials created natural reserves and national parks to protect them.

But the protected zones are not sufficient for the growing population of Sumatran elephants, estimated to be between three and four thousand.

And, despite the protective measures, "cohabitation" between elephant and human often doesn't go well. Farmers complain the elephants regularly destroy their crops, and about a dozen people are killed each year trying to protect their harvests.

The elephants are often poisoned, the traditional control method by the local population. Twelve elephant carcasses were found last month in a pit close to a plantation.

Those arrested for the crime were put in prison and face trial in coming weeks.