By: Natalia Trita Agnika

A seven-year-old elephant named Imbo welcomed musician Tulus to Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau, on Wednesday (25/07). The musician, whose full name is Muhammad Tulus Rusydi, was gently presented with a flower. Tulus' presence in one of the native habitats of the Sumatran Elephant was to hand over donations from the #TemanGajah Campaign to WWF-Indonesia.

After a GPS satellite collar or location detection collar donated by the #JanganBunuhGajah Campaign was installed on an elephant in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (TNBBS) in early 2018, Tulus now brought three units of location detection collars. Apart from the donations from the #TemanGajah Campaign, the location detection collars were also donated by Wardah and Sejauh Mata Memandang. GPS satellite collars attached to wild elephants will make it easier to monitor the movements of wild elephant groups. The data collected can be the basis for determining conflict mitigation between elephants and humans.

Nurchalis Fadli, Rimba - Upper Kampar - Tesso Nilo Manager of WWF-Indonesia accepted the donation witnessed by the elephant trainers, some training elephants from the Flying Squad WWF-BBKSDA Riau team, Wardah representatives, and As Far as the Eye Can See.

Tesso Nilo is one of the remaining forest blocks on the island of Sumatra. This area is a conservation area for Sumatran elephants. However, large-scale conversion of natural forest has caused elephant habitat to narrow, increasing the potential for conflict between elephants and humans. The existence of the Flying Squad WWF-BBKSDA Riau team, which was formed in 2004, helps reduce conflicts between elephants and humans because they patrol and drive wild elephants that enter community gardens back to their habitat in Tesso Nilo National Park.

In addition to handing over the GPS satellite collar, Tulus also had the opportunity to see the daily activities of the Flying Squad team. The "Gajah" singer was mesmerized by Rahman, a charismatic 48-year-old adult elephant. The cuteness of Rimbani, a small elephant born in Tesso Nilo in 2016, also made Tulus love elephants even more. Together with Lisa, her mother, Rimbani takes a morning bath while drinking. Not only mingling with the elephants, Tulus also shared stories with the mahout who faithfully nurture, accompany, supervise, and care for elephants. The mahout invited Tulus to plant a forest ambacang tree seedling, a type of mango that is very fragrant. When it bears fruit, this tree will be a favorite of the elephant children.

As a sign of his love for elephants and his support for conservation efforts, donations through the #TemanGajah Campaign are still ongoing. Donations can be collected through kitabisa.com/temangajah.