World’s smallest elephant heads toward extinction, just 1,000 left in wild

The smallest elephant known to mankind namely the Bornean elephant is described as an animal with long tails that may occasionally touch the ground, fairly large ears and straighter tusks in contrast to their mainland cousins as per the World Wildlife Fund. (WWF)

The elephant type has unfortunately been classified as endangered officially by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Despite being smaller than their African counterparts, standing at 8.2-9.8 feet tall, the Bornean elephant is the largest mammal on the island of Borneo, according to WWF.

The Bornean elephant has been categorized as endangered due to severe habitat loss and fragmentation from extensive logging and oil palm plantations, leading to the destruction of around 60 percent of their forest habitat in the last 40 years.

Natural History Museum confirmed status of Bornean elephant

A new study was conducted by professor Adrian Lister and a team of researchers from the Natural History Museum in London to confirm its status as a separate subspecies of the Asian elephant , Elephas maximus borneensis .

This distinction upon confirmation led to the Bornean elephant being listed as endangered by the IUCN in their Red List of Threatened Species, which was updated on June 27, 2024.

“As a distinct subspecies of the Asian elephant, these animals are unique to the island of Borneo and part of our natural heritage,” WWF Malaysia’s Dr. Cheryl Cheah says. “The inclusion of Bornean elephants on the Red List is a pivotal step to galvanize conservation efforts and direct resources to areas of utmost importance.”

“Their classification as “ Endangered ‘ underscores the urgency of collaborative conservation action to limit human-elephant conflict and prevent the further loss and fragmentation of their habitat,” she added.

Cheah stated that Managing both of these issues effectively will be crucial to safeguard their future survival in addition to hoping that the research will help to boost support for the threatened mammals as per Phys.Org.

These elephants inhabit the Malaysian state of Sabah and the Indonesian state of Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

The research involved examining elephant skulls from museum collections around the world. They examined 120 skulls of Asian elephant sources from different museum collections including the Natural History Museum.

After differentiating between the skulls, scientists then identified unique physical characteristics and learned that Bornean elephants have smaller and wider heads and narrower trunk gaps compared to other Asian elephants.

Genetic studies also supported their distinctiveness, leading to the confirmation of the Bornean elephant as a separate subspecies.

The species was first named in 1950 and has remained a topic of debate since in the scientific world which limited the protections for them.

The new study, however, provided concrete evidence of their distinction and thus, now they are eligible to be protected as an ‘endangered’ animal.

Conserving Bornean elephants is imminently necessary as they play a crucial role in maintaining the health of Borneo’s rainforests. As keystone species, they help to disperse seeds and create clearings that promote plant diversity and forest regeneration.

Natural History Museum says that currently, only about 1,000 Bornean elephants remain living primarily in the Malaysian State of Sabah, with a small population in the Indonesian State of Kalimantan.

“These elephants face significant threats from habitat loss due to logging and the expansion of oil palm plantations, as well as poaching and human-wildlife conflict.”

Ensuring their survival helps preserve the ecological integrity of Borneo, supporting both the environment and human society.

Professor Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission alluded to the fundamental role of the IUCN Red List. He says that it informs extinction risk at the national level, or at the level of a subpopulation of a species whose status might not be the same as the global population or other subpopulations.

“Geographic variations in extinction risk are central to assessing Green Status, a recently adopted protocol for refining key conservation interventions across a species’ range,” Rodríguez added.

“As countries gear up to meet their commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, detailed local assessments, such as the Borneo population of Asian elephants, contribute valuable case studies to learn from and replicate.”