Sumatran elephants in the wild face extinction in less than 30 years unless there is an immediate moratorium on the destruction of their habitat, the World Wildlife Fund warned.

There are between 2,400 and 2,800 of the elephants left in the wild on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which means the population has halved since 1985.

And now the International Union for Conservation of Nature has changed its classification of the Sumatran elephant from “endangered” to “critically endangered” on its list of threatened species.

The elephant joins a growing list of critically endangered species on Sumatra, including the orang-utan, rhino and tiger.

“Scientists say that if current trends continue, Sumatran elephants could be extinct in the wild in less than 30 years,” the WWF said.

It attributed the decline largely to habitat being deforested and converted for agricultural plantations.

The IUCN said it changed its classification because the creature, the smallest Asian elephant, has lost nearly 70 per cent of its habitat and half of its population in one generation.

Despite the elephant being protected under Indonesian law, 85 per cent of its habitats are not safeguarded as they are outside officially-protected areas.

‘The elephant joins a growing list of critically endangered species’

This means they are likely to be converted for other uses

Elephant numbers in Sumatra’s Riau province alone have declined by 80 per cent in less than 25 years due to rapid deforestation by pulp and paper industries and oil palm plantations, the WWF said.