Endangered species get boost in habitat

Sumatra's endangered elephants and tigers should get a boost from an Indonesian government move to expand one of their last havens, a 4-year-old national park on the island, conservation body WWF said yesterday.

But WWF warned that increased efforts would be vital to ensure that poaching and other illegal activities, like unsanctioned logging and settlement, did not continue in the park, Tesso Nilo, in Sumatra's Riau Province.

"This is an important milestone towards securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Mubariq Ahmad, head of WWF in Indonesia as it was announced in Jakarta that the park area would be more than doubled to 86,000 hectares.