Critically endangered Sumatran elephant gives birth at Indonesian national park

A Sumatran elephant has given birth to her third baby at an Indonesian national park, the country's environment and forestry minister said on Thursday.

The animal, who is affectionately known as Lisa, delivered a 119-kilogram female baby elephant on Wednesday at 03.30 a.m. local time at the Tesso Nilo National Park, in Sumatra's Riau province.

"The baby is in healthy condition and keeps close to the mother," said Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar in a statement.

"The newborn has become an addition to Indonesia's biodiversity. Let's all protect it," she added.

The birth of the baby elephant came less than a month after a 34-year-old female Sumatran elephant named Yani perished at a zoo in Bandung city, West Java. She had been paralyzed for more than a week, and was found dead with bruises on her body.

An investigation to Yani's death is ongoing as concerns of neglect from the facility's owner were mounting.

Wildlife conservationists estimate that only fewer than 3,000 Sumatran elephants left in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as critically endangred, or just a step away from extinction.

The population of this species faces threats from poaching, deforestation and forest encroachment.

The Indonesian government has regulated the protection of the animal under its 1990 Law on Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation. Endit