Perilaku Makan Gajah Sumatera (Elephas Maximus Sumatranus) Di Taman Margasatwa Ragunan

Rena Riana Anita, Dewi Elfidasari, Donny Gunaryadi

Abstract


Abstrak - Gajah Sumatera (Elephas maximus sumatranus) merupakan subspesies dari gajah Asia yang hidup di Pulau Sumatera, Indonesia. Gajah merupakan spesies kunci sehingga harus dijaga kelestariannya. Oleh karena itu diperlukan adanya konservasi terhadap gajah. Taman Margasatwa Ragunan (TMR) merupakan salah satu kawasan konservasi eksitu. Pengamatan perilaku makan gajah di kawasan eksitu penting dilakukan untuk mengetahui mekanisme adaptasi gajah di kawasan eksitu yang bukan merupakan habitat aslinya karena sebagian besar aktivitas makan gajah dihabiskan untuk aktivitas makan. Pengamatan perilaku makan bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan perilaku makan gajah sumatera di TMR. Penelitian dilakukan dengan pengamatan perilaku makan empat ekor gajah yang terdiri dari dua ekor gajah dewasa dan dua ekor gajah anakan yang meliputi: waktu aktivitas makan, jenis makanannya, perilaku makan, dan interaksi yang terjadi selama aktivitas makan. Metode pengamatan dilakukan dengan focal observastion. Analisis data yaitu menggunakan analasis deksriptif dan dengan membandingkan hasil presentase perilaku makan gajah yang terlihat. Hasil yang diperoleh adalah terdapat tiga perilaku gajah yaitu mengambil, memotong dan mengunyah makanan. Perbedaan perilaku gajah dipengaruhi oleh faktor umur dan jenis pakan gajah yang diberikan oleh perawat TMR.

Abstract - Sumatran Elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is one of Asian elephants subspecies that live in Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Elephants are a key species that must be preserved. Therefore, it is necessary to do a conservation about elephants. Taman Margasatwa Ragunan (TMR) is one of the ex-situ conservation area. An observation about elephant feeding behavior in ex-situ area is important to know the mechanism of elephant adaptation in the ex-situ area which is not their original habitat because most of elephant activity is spent on feeding activity. The purpose of this observation is to describe the feeding behavior of Sumatran elephant in TMR. This observation was conducted by observing the eating behavior of four elephants consisting of two adult elephants and two baby elephants which included: the time of feeding activity, the type of food, the eating behavior, and the interactions that occurred during feeding activity. Data analysis is using descriptive analysis and by comparing the percentage of elephant feeding behavior. The result obtained is there are three behaviors of elephants in TMR during feeding: taking, cutting, and chewing foods. Differences in elephant behavior are affected by age and type of foods.

Keywords – Elephants, Sumatran Elephants, Eating behaviour, Ragunan Wildlife Park


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.36722/sst.v4i4.311

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