The Flora and Fauna of Sumatra

          Sumatera is famous for its animals. It’s wildlife is more varied than any other island in indonesia. Sumatera contains 176 different mammals, 194 reptiles, 62 amphibians and 150 different birds. Orang – utans, rhinos and wild pigs are found only in the north of the island. The tapir and certain species of monkey are found only in the south of the island. North and south, wildlife survives because the sumatran like animals. You can see tigers, bird, and strange animals painted on becak and signs all over the island.

          The sumatran jungles support a great range of plant life. There are trees such as the ketapang, which are over 60 meters in hight, vines called “wait a minute” have thorns that can catch people as they walk in the forest. The corpse plant is over two metres high and smells or rotting meat. The amazing rafflesia grows on the west coast of sumatra. The flower grows to one metre in width and it is the largest flower in the world.

          In recent years, forest fires have destroyed a lot of sumatra’s forest. The governments are trying to stop the destructiob of our forest. Let us hope they succed, sumatra without its forests would not be a nice place.

Sumber : Buku Bahasa Inggris 1