Listen to renowned Exotic Animal Veterinarian Dr. Rosa of Lok Kawi Wildlife Park talk about Borneo's iconic Pygmy Elephants.
These elephants are critically endangered with less than 1500 surviving.

They are the Smallest Elephant in the world and are born at approx 150 pounds. Males can stand 8 feet (approx) and Females 6 feet (approx). THEY ARE highly intelligent, compassionate and the most gentle out of all elephant subspecies. Pygmy Elephants have longer tails and shorter trunks and much smaller bodies than other elephants. They have round faces and tend to look like baby elephants even into Adult life, which is why Walt Disney actually created the character “Dumbo” from a Pygmy Elephant.

➢ IN ORDER TO SURVIVE these large animals are raiding Oil Palm Plantations and personal gardens and farms for food, which is the reason HumanElephant conflict occurs. This conflict is the cause of many elephants being injured from illegal snares, traps or killed.
➢ CONFLICT:
➢ In 2013 an entire herd of 14 or more Elephants were poisoned by Plantation Workers with Cyanade.
➢ Mothers often abandon the babies in haste to escape hunters or humans, as the Plantation workers become violent, which is the reason for so many orphaned baby pygmy elephants.

ABOUT THE ISLAND OF BORNEO ~ It is the 3rd largest Island in the world Borneo is the 3rd largest Island in the world and is located in South East Asia situated between Thailand and the Philippines. It is divided into 3 countries, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Its rainforest of Sabah is the smallest of all rainforests but is considered to be the most biologically diverse place on earth. The very lush rainforests provide a vibrant habitat to over 18,000 plant species, including the worlds largest flowers and tallest trees and 50 carnivorous pitcher plants, 222 different mammal species, 420 birds, 100 amphibians. Indigenous tribes have lived in Borneo’s forests for thousands of years and just 100 years ago headhunters ruled a remote location of the island. The rainforests are so dense that to this date scientists continue to discover new species every year.

Unfortunately the rainforests have been disappearing rapidly due to outside corporations and the increasing need for consumer demand. This has left many animals homeless, injured, starving and vulnerable to opportunistic hunters.

Commercial logging began in 1973 and by the 1980’s and 1990’s the rainforests were leveled at a rate unparalleled in human history. Large Corporations came in and started to purchase land and Borneo’s natural resources. Not much thought was given to the many species living in the rain forests. These forests, with the animals included, were burned, logged and cleared, and then replaced with agricultural land, or oil palm plantations, WHICH STILL CONTINUES TODAY.

HERE are SOME STATS OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEM:

Consumer demand is causing extensive Oil Palm Plantations to degrade the land, which is home for pygmy elephants and other wildlife. This causes fragmentation, disrupting migration routes and accessibility from each other and vital food supplies.

The Palm Oil Industry is an Environmental Disaster for Borneo

BIGGEST EXPORTERS of PALM OIL ARE INDONESIA $15.4B AND MALAYSIA $9.5B(as of 2015)

70% of the rainforest has already been destroyed from logging and Palm oil Plantations