Pygmy elephants 'under threat'
Thursday, 09 Aug 2007 07:53
A pygmy elephant with her calf
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Already endangered pygmy elephants are facing greater threats from forest fragmentation and loss of habitat, the WWF has warned.
Just 1,000 of these elephants are now thought to exist in their main habitat in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.
By placing collars on the pygmy elephants and tracing them with satellites, the WWF was able to find where they go for food and shelter.
They found that the animal depends upon forests situated on flat, low lands and in river valleys for its survival, but these areas are also popular for commercial plantation.
Pygmy elephants prefer these areas as there is more food of better quality on fertile lowland soils.
The WWF claims that during the last 40 years, 40 per cent of the forest cover of Sabah has been lost to logging, conversion for plantations and human settlements.
And the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, one important area for the elephants, may soon be too small and fragmented to support a viable population of pygmy elephants.
"The areas that these elephants need to survive are the same forests where the most intensive logging in Sabah has taken place, because flat lands and valleys incur the lowest costs when extracting timber," said Raymond Alfred, head of WWF-Malaysia's Borneo species programme.
The conservation group is hopeful that the Malaysian government will remain committed to retaining forest habitat through the Heart of Borneo agreement, providing a home for the elephants in the long term.