Habitat of pygmy elephants threatened by palm oil

Borneo’s unique pygmy elephant is being increasingly threatened by loss of habitat, a new study reveals..

The type of land they need to survive – forests situated on flat, low lands and in river valleys – is also the type of terrain favoured for palm plantations.
Sabah has lost 10 per cent of its forest cover annually for the past four years to logging, plantations and human settlement.

“The areas that these elephants need to survive are the same forests where the most intensive logging in Sabah has taken place, because flat lands and valleys incur the lowest costs when extracting timber,” said Raymond Alfred, Head of WWF-Malaysia’s Borneo Species Programme.

“However, the Malaysian government’s commitment to retain extensive forest habitat throughout central Sabah, under the “Heart of Borneo” agreement, should ensure that the majority of the herds have a home in the long term.”

The pygmy elephant is a distinct species found only in Borneo and is thought to have existed there for 300,000 years.

Telegraph