The Effect of Antrophogenic Noise on Anti-predator Activity of Sumatran Elephants at the Elephant Conservation Center

The increase of human activity around forest area causes noise anthropogenic effect to animals. This long-term effect can lead to decrease behavior and impact on species composition and inter-species interactions. Sumatran Elephants are classified as endangered animal. This study aims to determine the effect of noise on the Sumatran elephant's anti-predator behavior and the difference in behavioral response based on the difference noise exposure time. The observation was conducted to Sumatran Elephants in Elephant Conservation Center Saree, Aceh Besar District. Observation method was animal focal sampling technique. The data was analyzed using the chi square test with a significant level of 5%. Based on the results of the chi-square test, the value of sig is 0.000 or smaller than 0.05, indicate that there is an effect of noise toward anti-predator behavior. The observed Sumatran elephants also look more responsive to the noise that is sounded in the morning. Noise can interfere with prey perceptions of predators and correlate with increased energy use. The presence of visitor, motorized vehicles, and other voices from around area contributed significant noise which had an impact on the welfare of animals in captivity.