Alarm call for the Borneo elephant: Only around a thousand animals left in the wild
"The population of Borneo's elephants has decreased significantly over the past 75 years due to the intensive logging of Borneo's forests, which has destroyed a large part of their habitat", the IUCN stated in an update to their Red List of Threatened Species. This was the first time the wildlife protection organization had individually examined the Borneo Elephant as a subspecies of the Asian Elephant.
The population in the Malaysian state of Sabah in northeastern Borneo has grown rapidly in recent years, according to the IUCN. More and more areas are being inhabited. Elephants reportedly enter human-dominated areas more frequently for food, "where they sometimes damage crops and are killed in retaliation".
The Borneo Elephant is still threatened by the ongoing destruction of its habitat, particularly in relation to palm oil plantations, wood plantations, and mining.
The Borneo elephants, classified as a subspecies on the IUCN's Red List, are facing alarming population declines due to habitat loss. Only the wild Borneo elephant subspecies, or Wildbahn Elephant, is of concern on this list. The forest dwellers' alarm calls resonate through the remaining Borneo forests, a testament to their vulnerability. The destruction of Borneo's forests, primarily for palm oil plantations, wood plantations, and mining, is the main threat to these animals.
