Pigmy Elephants
Pigmy Elephants live in the disappearing forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. I have been to the Kinabatangan region of Sabah 3 other times before this journey and I heard rumours the elephants were nearby, I heard "You should have been here 3 days ago!" or they came through just over there only an hour ago, and I have had plenty of elephant dung pointed out to me but up to this point I had never seen them.
However some people we met on a our travels mentioned that they had seen them in the Kinabatngan area so, though I was hopeful, I was doubtful that we would see them.
We chugged up river in the late afternoon and whilst the Belgians behind us kept their eyes peeled for Orang Utans, Probiscis Monkeys and Macaques we scanned the banks in search of small elephants.
Our boat seemed to have devoloped a problem and both myself and Taren were anxious that we might miss any chance of seeing them if they did come down to the river but in the meantime the boat driver got on the phone and requested help, parts or a new boat. So, there we were getting occasional glimpses of Proboscis Monkeys in the tree tops when the guide pointed across the river to the oppostie bank where two small Asian Pigmy Elephants were grazing.
This was, as a moment in time incredible but before long the elephants had merged back into the bush letting loose the occasional trumpet and though it was all too brief both Taren and myself were pretty excited. The boatman started to reverse the boat out of the area and we realised the show was over but then he pointed the nose of the boat down a creek and to our complete amazement came across mothers and babies, males sporting tusks a veritable mass of elephants!
The elephants had come to raid an old local fishing camp and they were there with intent, knocking things over, tearing off the roofing and smashing down poles. We had a sensational view point from the water as the animals were above us looking down. Though our presence agitated them to a small degree they didn't seem to fazed as long as we kept our distance.
Truly an incredible experience!
The Borneo Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), a well-documented variety of elephant, is also called "Pygmy Elephant." This elephant, inhabiting tropical rainforest in north Borneo (east Sabah and extreme north Kalimantan), was long thought to be identical to the Asian Elephant and descended from a captive population. In 2003, DNA comparison revealed them to be probably a new subspecies.[1][2]. A 2010 study found that there are an estimated 2,040 elephants in Sabah.[3].
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