Homeless Giants:
Habitat loss fuels human-elephant conflict in northern Sumatra

Watch our short film, “Homeless Giants,” about the Indonesians on the front lines of human-elephant conflict in Aceh to learn more about life in the alternately awe-and-terror-inspiring vicinity of some of the world’s largest land mammals. The film was produced by Jakarta-based filmmaker Fieni Aprilia (@Fiensh) and Sumatra-based journalist Dyna Rochmyaningsih (@rochmyaningsih) in partnership with Mongabay’s editorial and video teams, with support from the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund.

Human-wildlife conflict has intensified in Indonesia's Aceh province, home to nearly half of all wild Sumatran elephants. As the animals' forest homes are razed to make way for plantations and other developments, farmers struggle to protect their crops from hungry elephants, sometimes using poison to deter them. Some local residents, however, believe coexistence with these highly intelligent mammals is possible. Read more: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/pho...

Assignment for Mongabay, funded by the Pulitzer Center.