Happy World Elephant Day!
August 12 is a celebration of World Elephant Day. Belantara Foundation’s Executive Director Sri Mariati said, “Congratulations on commemorating International Elephant Day. Let us make this commemoration day a reminder for us to be more concerned and enthusiastic in protecting and preserving elephants, especially elephant species, especially those in Indonesian forests ".
The purpose behind the commemoration of World Elephant Day
The United Nation or the United Nations has set 12 August as World Elephant Day since 2012. The World Elephant Day is designated to educate the public about the status of the existence of largest mammal on this land to the whole world because its population is increasingly threatened.
To promote elephant conservation, conservation campaigns are conducted both on social media and offline. Public awareness of the species is crucial so thus next generations will still be able to see the species, not only from its documentations.
Get to know the elephants
Elephants are the largest mammals on land. In general, elephants are classified into two species, namely the African Elephant (Loxodonta sp.) and the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus). Indonesia is a lucky because for having at least two subspecies of Asian elephants, namely the Sumatran Elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and the Kalimantan Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis). Not all countries have inherited subspecies of elephants in their territory.
This trunked mammal is a very sensitive animal. It can be seen from the habits of the elephant family who welcome the baby elephant as a new member of the family. Mature elephants are also helping, caring, and looking after the young elephants, even if they are not their own biological children.
It is not uncommon for elephants to cry over the death of their family members. The elephants who were left behind by their family members hugged each other and lingered on to stare at their dead family members. Before leaving the dead elephant, his family would cover the elephant's body with the soil its feet swept away.
Another unique fact about elephants
Different from most animals, elephant groups are led by female elephants. Usually, the elephant leader is the oldest female or sometimes called as the oldest grandmother in the group. Older elephants usually have more memories, experiences, and also knows the best route for the elephants group.
Elephants are animals that sleep little and eat a lot. In a day an elephant only takes 4 hours to sleep and almost takes 16 hours to eat. But the food that was ripped off by their trunks was more scattered elsewhere or sprinkled on their own backs than in their mouths.
Mature female elephant pregnancy will last for almost 2 years (+ 18 months). This pregnancy is a very long period of time if we compared to the length of time it takes for other animals to bear cubs.
