Rapid Fire
Borneo Elephants
- 01 Jul 2024
- 2 min read
Recently, Borneo elephants (Elephas maximus Borneensis) have been classified as 'Endangered' on the IUCN Red List.
- Only about 1,000 Borneo elephants remain, with 400 of them being breeding adults.
- The main threat to them is human-elephant conflict, poaching, and habitat loss caused by logging and oil palm plantations, leading to the loss of about 60% of their forest habitat in the last 4 decades.
Bornean Elephants:
- It is a subspecies of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) that is native to the island of Borneo.
- They are primarily located in Sabah, Malaysia and Kalimantan, Indonesia.
- They are genetically distinct from other Asian elephant populations, characterised by their smaller size and unique skull shape.
- They are herbivores, and live in family groups led by a matriarch and typically found near water sources such as rivers.
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Protection Status of Asian Elephants:
- IUCN Red List Status: Endangered.
- CITES: Appendix I.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
- Borneo is the world’s 3rd largest island, shared by Malaysia and Brunei in the north and Indonesia in the south.
Read more: IUCN Red List Update 2023, World Elephant Day 2023
