Greeting The Sumatran Elephants In Way Kambas National Park

A group of Sumatran elephants together with mahut after participating in patrol activities with forest police in Way Kambas National Park. ANTARA/Ruth Intan Sozometa Kanafi.

BANDAR LAMPUNG - The sound of a boisterous butted in the middle of a tree. The thickness of the plant branches houses a special crossing to the Way Kambas National Park conservation site.

The humid atmosphere with the flavor of wood and soil completes the condition of the park which is the habitat of the Sumatran elephant.

Travelers on their way to the Way Kambas elephant training center, had the opportunity to witness a herd of elephants that had been trained to help forest police patrol.

The elephants lined up neatly to return to their homes in savana.

The group of elephants and handlers (mahout) lined back home to be an interesting sight. This condition is inversely proportional to a few moments ago during the silent COVID-19 pandemic. There is no passing of tourist vehicles that want to greet the elephants.

However, Way Kambas National Park according to the announcement Number: PG.2106/T.11./TU/HMS/12/2023 received tourist visits after the COVID-19 pandemic starting December 20, 2023.

The reopening was not long after the birth of the Sumatran elephant Sumatera (Elephasmen Sumatranus) in Way Kambas National Park (TNWK), East Lampung Regency, Lampung Province, on November 11, 2023. The birth was the second birth after Yongki the male elephant calf was born in April 2023.

The birth of the Sumatran elephant calf was in the spotlight of various international, national, local, and netizen media in cyberspace. They expressed joy at the birth of the Sumatran elephant calf which is a protected animal in the national park which is the pride of the people of Sai Bumi Ruwa Jurai.

Different tour packages

Way Kambas National Park now has a new face. Visitors can no longer ride elephants and see elephant attractions like in a circus. The tour package to the place is now packed with attractions that prioritize conservation and education on the preservation of protected animals, taking into account the concept of preservation for the present and future (sustainability), animal welfare (animal walfare), and community empowerment.

The Way Kambas National Park can be reached for two hours twenty-four minutes by crossing the 105-kilometer asphalt road from the center of Bandarlampung City. The atmosphere of the 1,300-kilometer-square conservation park is beautiful, typical of forest atmospheres, many vegetation.

After some time walking along the road while waiting for a group of elephants to patrol, in the gate area of the elephant training center, tourists can park their vehicles to change using vehicles provided by the national park manager.

In the elephant training center area, a small elephant with a narrow eyes, Jigrak hair with a cheerful gesture Jished his feet like a child dancing to see guests coming to his house, greeting the tourists who were giving the lecture.

The small elephant named Yongki is a male elephant calf born in 2023, and is now growing healthy to become a cheerful elephant for the next generation of the Sumatran elephant in Way Kambas National Park.

The small Yongki elephant greets tourists with its small trunk while inviting tourists to interact, play, encourage and occasionally want to know the contents of visitors' belongings. This little elephant occasionally approaches its mother as if it was about to tell the story of her playing with tourists.

Greeting the elephant calf is an experience that attracts tourists to the Way Kambas National Park, because it takes a long time to be able to meet elephant calf due to the long regeneration of elephants.

In addition to interacting directly with elephants, tourists can choose several packages of elephant tours, such as bathing an elephant with a mahut for 30 minutes during elephant care hours, namely at 08.00-14.30 WIB, feeding elephants, seeing and observing birds around Way Kambas.

"For tickets, according to the regulations on weekdays, IDR 5,000 per person, while for holidays IDR 7,500 per person. For school children or in the form of groups, they must first ask for permission from the hall. Meanwhile, for the purchase of packages with elephants, they can buy them at the cooperative provided and later there will be a guide," said the ticket officer, Rahman.

Tourist visits to Way Kambas National Park fluctuate. During the holidays, many tourists will be visited, while on normal days only a few people, because the tourist market has a tourist target with special interests.

Way Kambas National Park plans to manage the conservation tourism by collaborating with buffer villages, where tourists will be directed to oversee the buffer village to learn to process cassava-based food, see and at the same time try trigona bee cultivation, make an ecoprint, and the tour journey will end at the elephant training center.

With the concept of empowering the buffer village, it is also possible to increase the interest of tourists to experience life in the village around Way Kambas National Park, it can also help the economy of the village community.

The concept of integrated conservation tourism has also been designed by the Lampung Provincial Government. People in buffer villages play an important role in preserving the Way Kambas National Park area, which is an elephant habitat while protecting elephants from illegal hunting.

"So for Lampung tourism, which has become an icon to the international community and remembered by foreign tourists, of course Way Kambas, cannot be replaced because it has a unique selling point. And with the concept of conservation, the buffer village will make tourist packages become tourists who can enjoy living with the community and the community has income," said Head of the Lampung Provincial Tourism and Creative Economy Office, Bobby Irawan.

The Lampung Provincial Government is optimistic that Way Kambas can become sustainable and quality tourism with environmental-based management and empowerment of villagers.

A number of tourists also appreciate the implementation of the concept of conservation tourism and education by the management of Way Kambas National Park because they can see Sumatran elephants living like animals in nature.

"The package here and there can't be like the one who rode it but rather playing, feeding, bathing. This becomes more comfortable, because it is educational, not animal exploitation. As an animal lover, of course I agree more with the current concept, especially since there are packages that are integrated with surrounding villages, so it is quite attractive for tourists," said a tourist from Bandarlampung City, Dias Darmawan.

Changes in the concept of tourism in Way Kambas National Park make it more friendly to animals and the environment. Tourists can now greet Sumatran elephants in May Kambas National Park, although in different ways. Tourists can greet elephants like in a prosperous free nature.