Borneo Pygmy Elephant

Borneon Pygmy Elephant

When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) carried out a DNA analysis in the year 2003 on the pygmy elephants, it was proven that pygmy elephants are distinct from elephants in other parts of Asia and therefore was recognized as a subspecies. However, scientists are still doubting if the Borneo Pygmy elephant is an animal endemic to Borneo island. They made a speculation that these elephants could originate from Java which they believed was abandoned by the Sultan Sulu in the seventeen century. The Javan elephants has long been extinct on the island of Java.

Borneo pygmy elephants are smaller and are significantly less hostile than other Asian elephants. The males may grow no more than 8.2 feet, while other elephants grow up to 9.8 feet. They have rounder faces, bigger ears, and tails that reach nearly to the ground and are more rotund.

Before WWF came to Borneo, no one had ever carried out a study on the pygmy elephant. When their habitat becomes smaller, they get into more recurrent confrontations with people over land and food.

In June and July 2005, Dr. Christy Williams and Raymond Alfred led a study on this elephant, a joint venture study carried out by Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy proggramme and WWF Malaysia. They succeeded in attaching satellite collars to five pygmy elephants in different herds in Sabah. This was a ground-breaking challenge to understand more about the elephants and their habitat.

The collaring is part of the first scientific study ever made on this little-understood population. The preliminary data has already given information about the activity of these elephants and their use of the forests in Sabah. The information is critical in helping officials in Malaysia make land-use decisions.

Just last month (March 12), a corridor project to connect fragmented forests in Sabah to help in the survival of the elephants was announced by the state government. The 50 meter forest corridor strip, also called the Melapi Elephant Corridor in Sukau is making a huge difference in the survival of the Bornean pygmy elephants.

The elephants can now pass through the land using this corridor to travel from one key habitat to another. Before, it was a very narrow bottleneck and the elephant suffered a lot. This introduction of the corridor will also be able to greatly reduce the potential human-and-elephant conflict which happens mainly in villages and plantation.