Elephant hunters in Sumatra are using poisoned pineapples to kill elephants before removing their tusks which are highly prized as ivory.

Sumatran conservation officers recently found two dead elephants with their tusks removed and around them were pineapples that had been laced with cyanide. The elephants would have been attracted to the sweet smell of the pineapples before eating them.

Asian elephants face major threats across their range from India to Sumatra not just from poaching but also from loss of habitat, especially from deforestation for palm oil production in Indonesia.

Less than 50,000 Asian elephants are estimated to survive making them far more endangered than their African cousins which are frequently touted as a species on the verge of extinction.

In fact, there are an estimated half a million African elephants and in their Southern African strongholds numbers are rising to the extent that wildlife authorities are discussing options to cull populations where there are no further options to relocate them.

WWF is campaigning to safeguard the forest habitat of the Asian elephant.

One of the best ways you can help is by ADOPTING AN ELEPHANT.