Experts seek plan to save rare species

More than 100 experts and officials met in Indonesia on Wednesday to try to draft an action plan to save Sumatran elephants and tigers threatened with extinction.

Satellite images show large areas of lowland tropical forests, the primary habitat for elephants and tigers, have been cleared on Sumatra island mainly due to farming and logging, the WWF conservation group said.

Between 1990 and 2000, a total of eight million hectares of lowland forests have been lost to development, the group said.

Shrinking habitats have led to conflicts with humans, resulting in the deaths of 42 people and 100 elephants between 2002 and 2007, said the group.

WWF said Sumatran elephants in Indonesia had declined approximately 35 percent over the past 15 years, from 2 800-5 000 in 1992 to 2 400-2 800 animals in 2007.