Time is running out for Southeast Asia
On Nov. 23, the last Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Malaysia died. Named Iman, she’d lived in captivity in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo for just over five…
Sumatran elephant sanctuary under threat from bridge, port projects
PALEMBANG, Indonesia — The planned construction of a bridge and private port in southern Sumatra threatens to damage one of the last remaining habitats of the island’s critically endangered elephants.…
Two suspected poachers arrested for killing of Sumatran elephant
Authorities in Indonesia have arrested two of four suspects alleged to have killed a rare Sumatran elephant and hacked off one of its tusks last month. Police in East Aceh…
Poachers blamed in second Sumatran elephant death this year
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Authorities in Indonesia have blamed poachers for the death of an elephant found with one of its tusks hacked off, in one of the world’s most…
New study suggests Borneo’s had elephants for thousands of years
The backstory behind the world’s smallest elephants has always been something of a mystery. For one thing, scientists aren’t sure exactly when — and how — Bornean pygmy elephants got…
Poachers blamed as body of Sumatran elephant, missing tusks, found in protected forest
PALEMBANG, Indonesia -- Wildlife activists in Indonesia suspect poachers poisoned an elephant found with its tusks hacked off in a protected forest in southern Sumatra. The body of the male…
Leonardo DiCaprio poses with elephants in Indonesia’s embattled Leuser rainforest
Leonardo DiCaprio spent the weekend in Indonesia's embattled Leuser Ecosystem, toward whose conservation his philanthropic foundation pledged $3.2 million in January. Located in northwestern Sumatra, Leuser is one of Southeast…
Aceh official takes chainsaw to illegal oil palm trees
As part of a campaign to eradicate illegal oil palm in an area of Aceh where elephants travel, a local official felled one of the rogue trees himself on Tuesday…
Scientists turn to DNA from Sumatran elephant dung to aid conservation
Warning: Some images below may contain graphic content. At best numbering roughly 2,800 individuals, the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is critically endangered. Yet population data has been notoriously difficult…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Iran upholds heavy sentences for conservationists convicted of spying
- Two deaths trigger alarm at Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- Fighting to save an endangered ape, Indonesian activists fear for their lives
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- Database offers new details on the dams that hold mining waste
- Xavante tribe digs in as Brazil reneges on vow not to build a road in their reserve
- Vale has filed hundreds of requests to exploit indigenous lands in Amazon
Asian rhinos
- Indonesia-WWF split puts rhino breeding project in Borneo in limbo
- Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
- Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
