Indonesian authorities have rescued a critically endangered baby Sumatran elephant after it became separated from its mother at a palm-oil plantation.
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Sumatran elephants are on the brink of extinction with only about 2,400 to 2,800 left in the world, according to the global conservation body, WWF.
The two-month-old male calf was found at an oil-palm plantation in Riau province on the western island of Sumatra on Monday after residents alerted authorities, local conservation agency official Ujang Holisudin said.
“We suspect this elephant was left behind by his group or his mother,” Ujang said, adding that the calf was alone when authorities found him.
The baby elephant was found in good health after medical checks and brought to the conservation agency’s elephant training centre near the provincial capital Pekanbaru, he said.
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