Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Pigmy Elephants #4 "Mali"


Mali 84.006, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Posted by Buckles at 8/01/2007 10:10:00 AM

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an Interesting & Beautiful Photograph - not to mention this Elephant seams to look to be an exceptionally pleasent Animal .
Looks to be 4ft tall ?

02 August, 2007 11:19
Anonymous said...

Bud, look's can be deceiving. In press release's Michu was often described as being "exceptionally pleasant". Wade Burck

02 August, 2007 20:31
Anonymous said...

G'day Bud and Wade,
I spent a couple weeks working with Mali and the other Elephants back in November '84 and Mali was an exceptional animal! When a young calf was brought into the Zoo after being found in one of many gem pits around the island, Mali acted as an aunt to comfort the calf! Each morning she enjoyed having her morning bath in a large pool with a large tusker and would rub up against him and try to climb on him while he just lay there.

I only wish I could have brought her home with me, but she was just big for a townhouse!

Happy Days
Wayne

ps
She would have fitted in very well in a petting zoo or childrens zoo, she was that good!

02 August, 2007 22:16
Anonymous said...

....the following comes from "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

Borneo Pygmy Elephant Elephas maximus borneensis is a subspecies of the Asian Elephant and found in north Borneo (east Sabah and extreme north Kalimantan).

The origin of Borneo elephants was controversial. Two competing hypotheses argued that they are either indigenous, or were introduced, descending from elephants imported in the 16th–18th centuries. In 2003, mitochondrial DNA research has discovered that its ancestors separated from the mainland population during the Pleistocene, about 300,000 years ago. The Borneo elephant became isolated from other Asian elephant populations when land bridges that linked Borneo with the Sunda Islands and the mainland disappeared after the Last Glacial Maximum, 18,000 years ago.

Since the Borneo elephant became isolated it has become smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails, and relatively straight tusks. It is smaller than all the other subspecies of the Asian elephant. The Borneo elephant is also remarkably tame and passive, one reason scientists had thought it was descended from a domestic collection.

Wild Asian elephant populations are disappearing as expanding human development disrupts their migration routes, depletes their food sources, and destroys their habitat. Recognizing these elephants as native to Borneo makes their conservation a high priority and gives biologists important clues about how to manage them.

This comes from the Star.com


Pygmy elephant in Sabah proven to be a new subspecie

09/04/03

BY SUSAN TAM
PETALING JAYA: They are smaller, tamer and more mild tempered compared with other Asian elephants.

Following DNA tests they have now been confirmed as a new subspecies of Borneo “Pygmy Elephants.”

and were a distinct subspecies and had different characteristics from their cousins found on mainland Asia and Sumatra.

They are relatively tame and mild tempered when compared with other Asian elephants. Borneo’s elephants are also smaller in size.

DNA evidence showed that the elephants were isolated about 300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and Sumatra.

During that period, these elephants became smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails and relatively straight tusks,” he added.

“The evolutionary history of Borneo’s elephants justifies their recognition as a separate evolutionary significant unit.

Borneo’s elephants are genetically distinct and this rejects the argument they were introduced to the island..

03 August, 2007 10:33
Anonymous said...

Richard Reynolds says - - -

It is very interesting how an isolated population of animals can develop such differences, in this case apparent dwarfism.

Somewhere among my circus plunder is a late 19th or early 20th century ad from one of the big shows claiming a dwarf, wooly, elephant(s). Until I can hunt for it and make sure, I want to say it was the Sells Bros. I had dismissed it as just so much ad man hokum. Now, I’m not so sure. Perhaps one or more of these smallish Bornean elephants made it to America. If so they likely came through the Singapore gateway. It was always a collecting point for animals brought from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies islands (now Indonesia).

04 August, 2007 10:05
Anonymous said...

Mr. Renolds, I too noted the dwarfism. Like a horse to a miniature horse, to a dwarf horse, in extreme isolation undesirable caracteristics will proliferate, as you know. Add the possiblility of a poor source of nutrition, and this could be the result. Coloration, bigger, smaller, etc., I can accept as a subspecies, but dwarfism is difficult for me to accept as a subspecies. What say you? Wade Burck

04 August, 2007 10:49

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