Animals of Borneo: Bornean Pygmy Elephant The original photo and 3 artistic interpretations. * From The WWF: Walt Disney himself couldn't have crafted a cuter elephant. The pygmy elephants of Borneo are baby-faced with oversized ears, plump bellies and tails so long they sometimes drag on the ground as they walk. They are also more gentle-natured than their Asian elephant counterparts. Once believed to be remnants of a domesticated herd given to the Sultan of Sulu in the 17th century, pygmy elephants were determined by WWF to be genetically different from other Asian elephants. DNA evidence proved these elephants were isolated about 300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and Sumatra. Over time, they became smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails and straighter tusks. Today, the pygmy elephants of Borneo are the smallest elephants in Asia. Borneo’s elephants are a high conservation priority, yet they remain the least-understood elephants in the world. The primary threat to these elephants is the loss of continuous forests. Mammals of their size require large areas to find sufficient food. The large blocks of forests they require are fragmented by encroachment and conversion of natural forests to commercial plantations. Logging, expanding agriculture, and palm oil plantations are reducing contact between sub populations, as well as shrinking the forest area available for each sub-population. The best hope for the long-term survival of Borneo's elephants lies in sustainable forest management for timber production, since elephants can survive and breed in natural forests that are selectively logged. To address the problem, WWF works with plantation managers and owners in key pygmy elephant habitat in an effort to create reforested wildlife corridors that allow elephants and other species to move freely between natural forests. #BorneanElephant #PygmyElephant #Elephant #HabitatLoss #Endangered #PhotoManipulation #Art #Artistic #SimulatedPainting #Borneo #Sabah #Kalimantan #Indonesia #Malaysia https://www.instagram.com/p/CHrGkpKFEtB/?igshid=agadftrfdljz