We’re celebrating a year since Betino’s birth at the Flying Squad in Indonesia’s Tesso Nilo National Park! This lively little female calf was born on Aug. 9, 2013, to a critically endangered Sumatran elephant trained to help reduce human-elephant conflicts.
When elephants wander into human inhabited areas in search of food, the result is damage to crops and property. All too often there is also loss of life for both people and elephants. Tino spends her days shadowing her mom who is part of an elite squad of four elephants and eight elephant handlers called mahouts. They drive back wild elephants into the forest when they stray too close to villages or farms that surround the national park.
Despite their hard work, Sumatran elephants are facing a grim future. WWF recorded 19 elephant deaths, many poisoned and some missing tusks, around Tesso Nilo this year alone. In the last 25 years, Sumatran elephants have lost 70 percent of their habitat and suffered a severe decline in population.
WWF works to reduce conflict between humans and elephants, save Sumatra’s forests, and stop wildlife crime.
Thank you for supporting WWF’s efforts to give Betino and her wild cousins a safe future.