![]() ![]() ![]() Distribution and habitat A female elephant with her calf near the Kinabatangan RiverĮlephants are confined to the northern and northeastern parts of Borneo. They are also remarkably tame and passive, another reason some scientists think they descended from a domestic collection. There was no significant difference in any of the characters between the two captive populations. Morphological measurements of fifteen captive elephants from Peninsular Malaysia and of six elephants from Sabah were taken between April 2005 and January 2006, and repeated three times for each elephant and averaged. Few available measurements show that they are of similar size to other populations of the Sunda subregion. Five measurements of the skull of a fully adult female elephant from Gomantong Forest Reserve were slightly smaller (72–90%) than comparable dimensions averaged for two Sumatran skulls. It has become commonplace to refer to the Borneo elephant as a 'pygmy' subspecies, although adult elephants of Sabah of both genders are similar in height to their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia. The tip of their trunk has one finger-like process. In general, Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and have the highest body point on the head. Characteristics A close-up of the face of an elephant near Kinabatangan River, Sukau, Sabah, Malaysia The genetic divergence of Borneo elephants warrants their recognition as a separate evolutionarily significant unit. Comparison of the Borneo elephant population to putative source populations in DNA analysis indicates that the Borneo elephants more likely derived from Sundaic stock and are indigenous to Borneo, rather than having been introduced by humans. ![]() The Sultan of Sulu was thought to have introduced captive elephants to Borneo in the 18th century, which were released into the jungle. It is pre-eminently threatened by loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. A definitive subspecific classification as Elephas maximus borneensis awaits a detailed range-wide morphometric and genetic study. Its origin remains the subject of debate. The Borneo elephant, also called the Bornean elephant or the Borneo pygmy elephant, is a subspecies of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) that inhabits northeastern Borneo, in Indonesia and Malaysia. ![]()
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