Also complicating our lives are personal medical problems that may require several months to resolve. As soon as we can travel, however, we will go to Belize to begin the cleanup of our 30 acres and to do what we can to help the local community in our village (Big Falls). Other than our personal belongings that are still in Indonesia, everything we had was in Belize. Though we are anxious to return to Sumatra to carry on with our work, it may be April or May before that is possible.

Recent news – Wiwind update / Pawang exams / Shipment

The baby elephant “Wiwind” that we received from Lampung in May has finally begun to show some improvement. She has gained weight (she now weighs 130.5 kg) although she still has a pot-bellied appearance. We left enough formula for the next 3 months and are in the process of arranging for Wiwind to be transferred to Taman Safari Indonesia – an excellent zoological facility on Java. They have x-ray and ultrasound facilities and may be able to determine the cause of Wiwind’s malabsorption problem.

In July, all of the pawangs (mahouts) were offered a free medical check-up at the Caltex Hospital in Duri. The check-up consisted of a physical exam, chest x-ray, TB test, routine bloodwork and a hepatitis titer. About half of the pawangs participated. We learned that several pawangs declined because they were “takut” (afraid) of the needle. Ironically they are not afraid of the 4000 # elephants that they work with every day!  Many thanks to the Caltex staff that made this possible.

At the end of August, eleven wild elephants were captured and brought to the camp at Minas. This family group (5 adult females, 4 juveniles, and 2 calves) had been raiding a palm oil plantation.

Many of these elephants sustained injuries during the capture and we had our hands full working with minimal supplies as our shipment was still being detained by customs.  The Upjohn Company in Malaysia provided us with a generous donation of Naxcel (an antibiotic).  Many of these injuries were preventable, so we met with officials and suggested some simple measures that could be instituted.  Our suggestions seemed to be well received.

The problems of human-elephant conflict in Riau and other parts of Sumatra are likely to increase.  Logging (both legal and illegal) is largely responsible for the loss of elephant habitat.                 Conversion to Oil Palm

Once logged, the land is often converted to agriculture (oil palms) rather than allowing evolution to natural secondary forest (which would be suitable elephant habitat). Elephants and other wildlife are being compressed into smaller and smaller areas.


Elephants can cause extensive damage. Before leaving Sumatra, we visited a village and saw several houses and palm plantations that had been destroyed by raiding elephants. Imagine being asleep in your bed when an angry elephant comes charging through the wall of your house.

Young palms provide a tasty meal, but why do the elephants destroy the houses?  One theory suggests they seek the minerals from the cooking fires. In viewing the damage, it seemed clear to us that these elephants were angry and seeking retribution for the intrusion onto what was once their land. It is ironic that the people who own the feed store where we purchase fish meal and cracked corn for our captive elephant supplement live in this area and have been the victims of multiple elephant raids.

There are no easy answers. The existing Elephant Centers in Sumatra are at capacity. Taking more elephants into captivity is no longer a viable solution. Translocation is often suggested as a solution. But translocation is complex.
It is not just a matter of moving elephants from point A to point B. Many questions must be answered. Is there suitable habitat in the intended release site? Does the capture team have the proper equipment? Are they trained so that injuries and stress to the animals are minimized? Are there assurances that the elephants will not cause human-elephant conflict in their new location? Unfortunately few of these issues have been fully researched and the resources to do so are lacking.

As we were preparing to depart from Sumatra, 4 more elephants were captured, with the stated intention of re-locating them to Rimbang Baling (a conservation area about 3 hours south of Pekanbaru). However, villagers strongly protested the release of these elephants because they were concerned about their crops and the government once again agreed to hold the elephants in captivity.

Our experiences over the past 7 months made us realize that our goal to improve the healthcare at Sebanga was not as simple as we imagined. We had been in a crisis management mode since our arrival. Our intent was to elevate a basic level of care to a higher level, provide supplies, and facilitate further international support. Susan came to train veterinarians rather than to be the vet.

The injuries to the wild elephants required tremendous time, effort, and expense. More importantly, the issues of wound prevention and alternatives to capture needed to be addressed.

We initiated communication with colleagues in other NGO’s concerning these issues. Together with our WWF-Indonesia sponsor we met with government officials in Jakarta on October 19th. Although there are many issues confronting Sumatran elephants, we went to the meeting with two goals: to secure a moratorium on elephant captures for two years and to gain approval for an independent Sumatra-wide Elephant Healthcare Coordinator position.

We learned that the central government does not provide funding for elephant captures. This told us, as we had surmised, that the elephant captures were being funded at the local level by provincial government agencies and owners of large palm plantations.

We explained that our request for a moratorium on captures was endorsed by several NGO’s: WWF-Indonesia, Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the International Elephant Foundation (IEF). After making our presentation that focused on elephant wound prevention, our request for a moratorium was greeted with strong support by the government representatives. We were told that a letter would be sent to all the provincial forestry departments to this effect.

Colleagues at WCS are in the process of drafting a protocol “alternatives to capture” to deal with elephant conflict that could be instituted during the moratorium. WCS will also be evaluating the effectiveness of the various techniques in Way Kambas in southern Sumatra.

In reality, we know that even with an official moratorium in place, local events and finances may influence this policy. It may not be enforceable. But it is a step in the right direction.

Our proposal to create a position for a Sumatran Elephant Healthcare Coordinator also seemed to be well received. The Healthcare Coordinator would be an Indonesian veterinarian who would function as a resource for all the centers. The position would be independent (i.e. non-governmental). We would initially oversee the position and the development of the program. Although this may seem bigger than our original project, we think it would facilitate our work in Riau, benefit all of the other centers, and provide the necessary continuity after we leave. We are waiting for formal approval from officials in Jakarta before we can begin to raise the needed funds. It is essential that the government take certain actions for this position to be effective.

Although we would prefer to be back in Sumatra working toward our goal, we must take care of our problems in Belize and health problems we have tried to ignore. We left funds for the camp veterinarian to use for medical supplies while we are away. We also helped Dr. Rini set up an email account on Yahoo and hope that she will stay in communication with us. Even Pekanbaru has an Internet café!

On a positive note, Belize will provide some time for us to work on our Internet projects. In addition to information about the Sumatran elephant project, our website (www.elephantcare.org) will include an Elephant Veterinary Answer board (EVA) where questions can be posted, an Elephant Veterinary Information System (ELVIS) - a database of veterinary references (currently about 1500 articles, many with abstracts), and an Elephant Formulary (a compendium of drug doses).