TAG: GS 3: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: The Borneo elephants, indigenous to the forests of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo and Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo, have been classified as ‘Endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List as of June 27, 2024.
EXPLANATION:
- This classification highlights the critical need for immediate conservation efforts to prevent their extinction.
Current Population and Habitat Loss
- A team from IUCN and the Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AsESG) utilized satellite tracking to estimate the current population of Borneo elephants at approximately 1,000 individuals, with around 400 being breeding adults.
- Over the past four decades, more than half (60%) of their forest habitat has been destroyed primarily due to logging and the expansion of commercial oil palm plantations.
- Additionally, linear infrastructures such as roads and human settlements have disrupted the elephants’ ability to move between their three core habitat areas, further exacerbating their plight.
Human-Elephant Conflict and Poaching
- The encroachment of human activities into elephant habitats has led to frequent human-elephant conflicts.
- Elephants often raid crops, resulting in confrontations with local communities, which sometimes end in the killing of these animals.
- Furthermore, Borneo elephants are targeted by poachers for their ivory and hide, adding another layer of threat to their survival.
Importance of the IUCN Red List Classification
- IUCN Red List plays a vital role in assessing extinction risk at various geographic levels.
- The classification of the Borneo elephant population as ‘Endangered’ serves as a crucial case study for refining conservation strategies, especially under the commitments of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Detailed local assessments like these contribute to broader conservation efforts and help tailor interventions to specific regional needs.
Borneo Elephants
- Borneo elephants are distinguished by their smaller size, with males reaching approximately 2.5 meters in height, compared to 3 meters for mainland Asian elephants.
- They also have uniquely shaped skulls, resulting in a wider face.
- These distinct physical and genetic traits warrant their recognition as a separate subspecies, Elephas maximus borneensis, an Evolutionary Significant Unit critical for conserving both local and global biodiversity.
- For a long time, the origins of Borneo elephants puzzled scientists.
- Two primary hypotheses existed: one suggesting they were gifts from the ruler of Java to the Sultan of Sulu, and the other proposing that they are native to Borneo.
- Genetic studies led by elephant ecologist indicated that these elephants were introduced to Borneo but have since become genetically distinct from other Asian elephants.
- Further research by the IUCN-AsESG team supported this, noting their separation from other populations tens to several hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Conservation Efforts and Challenges
- The recognition of Borneo elephants as a separate subspecies emphasizes the need for targeted conservation efforts.
- The urgency of collaborative actions to manage human-elephant conflict, prevent further habitat loss, and ensure the survival of these unique pachyderms has been highlighted.
- Both Malaysia and Indonesia have developed action plans for Borneo elephant conservation, but these face numerous challenges.
- Effective measures include protecting and expanding forest habitats, supporting local communities to minimize conflicts, and enforcing anti-poaching laws.
- Establishing wildlife corridors through extensive oil palm plantations is also crucial, allowing elephants to roam freely, access more food, and maintain genetic diversity.