It is no doubt that Indonesia is home for a lot of beautiful and amazing tourist attractions. All of those attractions serve natural beauty and more than 50 diverse national parks are built as homes for rare and wonderful wildlife.
Sumatera is an island in Indonesia which has some national parks with some rarest wildlife in the world. This island is home for Sumateran elephants, tigers, rhinos and orangutans.
If you wish to visit Sumatera island and wish to see those rarest species of animals, then you should put these 6 national parks in Sumatera island on your list. You can also see these national parks in Sumatra to get the other recommended national parks there.
- Gunung Leuser National Park
The first national park in Sumatera Island is Gunung Leuser National Park. It is located in North Sumatera and covers around 950,000 hectares. Tourists can see some species of animals here, such as Sumateran tigers, elephants, rhinos, monkeys, orangutans, birds and many more.
Gunung Leuser National Park is listed as one of the best national parks. This national park is even listed by UNESCO.
Many endangered species call this place home. Many people visit this place to see the large orangutan community, however, there are many species of animals seeing too.
If you wish to visit this national park, you should have a permit for every day spent in the park as well as being led by a guide.
It is because of constant problems with poachers, so the park must be strictly practice caution when permitting visitors to enter the park.
- Kerinci Seblat National Park
Kerinci Seblat National Park is the biggest of Sumatera’s national parks. It has an area of 13,750 square km. It is two and half times the size of Bali, so that you will never be short of areas to explore.
Many people visit this national park as they climb Mount Kerinci, the highest active volcano in Southeast Asia. Mount Kerinci is also listed as one of the top mountains to hike in Jambi.
This national park is also home to the highest population of tigers. Many tourists expect to see a rare Sumateran tiger while they are trekking through the park.
However, they are the most difficult animals to spots. Don’t worry as you will still be able to see an abundance of other animals and plants, such as elephants, deer, and palm civets.
- Way Kambas National Park
Located in South Sumatera, Way Kambas has an area of 130,000 hectares. Being one of the best national parks in Indonesia, Way Kambas National Park is also home for Sumatera Rhino Sanctuary and Elephant Conservation Center.
So, it is a guarantee that you will see those animals once you visit this national park. The national park also consists of coastal swamp forest and lowland rainforest. You will also have amazing opportunities for bird-watching.
The Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas is a home to small group of Sumateran rhinos. They are cared for and encouraged to breed to save the species from extinction. You can also interact with elephants at the conservation center. You will see them ploughing fields and transporting wood in between bathing and playing.
- Sembilang National Park
Sembilang National Park is located on the east coast of South Sumatera. This park has an area of 792 square miles of mangroves, swamps and muddy forest.
Regarding to the animal species here, you can find at least 213 species of shorebirds along with clouded leopards, elephants, gibbons, and tigers. Some endangered Irrawaddy dolphins even swim in the river!
- Siberut National Park
Siberut National Park is located on Siberut Island, part of the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatera. Due to the island’s isolation from the bigger island, this national park has developed a completely unique ecosystem.
It is home for at least 864 species of known plants along with some animal species, such as gibbons, langurs and other primates.
Siberut National Park is also best known as the home for the Mentawai, a semi-nomadic group of indigenous people. Many of them still practice a hunter-gatherer way of life.
While you’re still around Siberut National Park, why don’t you consider visiting these beaches in Mentawai Islands too?
- Batang Gadis National Park
This national park is located in the southwestern part of North Sumatera. Most of the area in Batang Gadis National Park has been protected since 1921.
This national park has been facing some challenges since the Dutch colonization era as there are many poaches and illegal poaching.
Batang Gadis National Park is also home to Asian gold cats and leopard cats. Besides these national parks in Sumatera island, there are some other national parks in Bali and Nusa Tenggara you can visit too. Explore the nature and have fun!