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June 30, 2005

Little Big Things: The Discovery of the Pygmy Elephant

I'll admit, I was first attracted to the story of the pygmy elephant primarily because of the irony of its name (little big-thing?). Funny enough, the pygmy elephant species was only “discovered” about two years ago, although the subtle differences from its Asian cousin had been long recognized. The pygmy elephant is smaller, baby-faced and docile compared to its Asian cousin, but these anomalies had been attributed to the theory that these elephants were descendents of the tame elephants gifted to the Sultan of Sulu by the British East India Company in the 1600’s. When a chance DNA study of some Asian elephants accidentally uncovered that the subspecies was genetically different from the well-known Asian variety, conservationalists pushed for the new subspecies - the Borneo Pygmy Elephant - to be considered separately for protection purposes. Since that discovery in 2003, efforts by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have been made to study this unique and already endangered animal that lives only in a small part of the Island of Borneo. A five year project is currently ramping up; this month they have already begun to tag a bunch of the pygmy elephants.

Tagging the elephants is a great step forward not just for studying the species but also for protecting them to some extent. Unfortunately, these elephants are already in conflict with local farmers and villagers. At least three pygmy elephants have been killed in the past year, often brutally slain with their heads thrown into the river. This doesn't appear to be a case of ivory poaching as it is a retaliation by farmers, and possibly hungry villagers.

What scientists don't know is the size of their turf, breeding cycles, eating habits, family size, their movement patterns or even their population, currently estimated to be 1,500 though Williams believes it could be under 1,000.

...

WWF says the project is aimed at protecting the species as its habitat comes under pressure from spreading palm oil plantations, which account for 40 percent of Sabah state's GDP.

Pygmy elephants love palm oil fruit and will often invade plantations. "Growing palm oil trees next to a forest is like dangling candy before a child. The elephants can't resist it," said Jan Vertefeuille of WWF-USA who was part of the collaring team.

More at: E-tagging of pygmy elephants helps study

How can the pygmy elephants be protected?

Well, several methods are currently being considered. A wildlife preserve is one possibility. Wildlife ranger Datuk Wilfred Lingham is working on a wildlife corridor in the elephants' territory that would be reserved as a park, safe from farming. With a country this small, the tourism revenue argument might be considerable and make up for the loss of farmland.

It's always good to have a Plan B, though, especially as there are so few pygmy elephants. Relocation and distribution of the elephants to other locales is another possibility under consideration, especially those elephants living in areas close to people, where problem situations are more likely to arise.

A great site tracking elephant-related news, including the continuing struggle of the pygmy elephant, is Elephant News.

Posted by sorsha at June 30, 2005 12:53 PM