Bornean Pygmy Elephant Elephas maximus borneensis

Bornean Pygmy Elephant Elephas maximus borneensis

Critically Endangered

Population: fewer than 1,500

A mini sized Asian elephant subspecies is the Borneo Pygmy Elephant. These elephants are Critically Endangered. Borneo’s elephants are genetically distinct from any South and Southeast Asian population and may have been isolated for over 300,000 years. Elephants in Asia inhabit regions that also have large human populations, growing at a rate of 0.5–1.5% per annum (Cincotta et al. 2000), and this has associated impacts on elephant habitats through deforestation and various developmental pressures (e.g. Miettinen et al. 2011).

According to @IUCNredlist <1,500 Bornean Pygmy Elephants remain alive in Borneo, they are critically endangered as #palmoil #deforestation is out of control. Have your say in the supermarket with a #palmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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The Asian Elephant is one of the last few mega-herbivores (i.e. plant-eating mammals that reach an adult body weight in excess of 1,000 kg) still extant on earth (Owen-Smith, 1988).

Only 1,500 or so of these pachyderms live on Borneo, an island where palm oil production continues to encroach on their habitat.

WWF

The spread of human settlements, plantations, industry, farming, mining and linear infrastructures (roads, railway lines, irrigation canals, power lines, pipelines) have squeezed extant elephant populations into ever-decreasing pockets of forests and have blocked traditional migratory routes (Santiapillai and Jackson 1990; Leimgruberet al. 2003; Sukumar 1989, 2003, 2006; Hedges 2006; Menon et al. 2005, 2017). In the context of such drastic natural habitat modifications, the continued existence of Asian Elephants depends on the retention of core habitats, restoring highly degraded habitats, and establishing and maintaining connectivity between forested habitats (Menon et al. 2005, 2017; Goswami et al. 2014a).

Further Information

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