Sumatran elephants have the smallest habitat

Known as the smallest living elephant in the world, the Bornean Elephant is classified as endangered after decades of habitat destruction, conflict with humans, and debate over their status as a subspecies.

It is estimated that there are only around 7,000 Borneo elephants left, with the population continuing to decline due to deforestation in which they live, and the recent increase in conflict with humans. Determining the subspecies of Kalimantan elephants is characterized by a small body compared to elephants in other areas which have a height of around 2.5 to 3 meters.

This type of elephant has long been thought to be a subspecies of the Asian elephant, with some experts arguing that Bornean elephants were isolated from their mainland relatives some decades ago, while others suggest that Bornean elephants lived between 700 and 1300 years ago.

That's just part of the debate surrounding the status of Borneo's elephants. This makes it even more difficult for them to get protection. The good news is that new research carried out by a team at the Natural History Museum (NHM) in the UK has supported the classification of the Bornean elephant as a subspecies of Asian elephant. This research involved a comparison of more than 90 Asian elephant skulls from the NHM collection, which revealed some of the main differences seen in Bornean elephants compared to their larger relatives, namely that their heads were wider, and in the area of ​​the skull where the torso is located, the gaps were wider. narrow.

These findings, combined with genetic research showing clear differences between the two, and the Bornean elephant subspecies were confirmed. It is hoped that through this research and the classification of Bornean elephants as a subspecies, their conservation efforts will increase. And, as with many conservation cases, protecting just one group of animals may have benefits on a much larger scale. Some NHM experts say elephants are a keystone species that play an important role in protecting the rainforest. By conserving elephants, more other species and the wider ecosystem will be protected.