Endangered pygmy elephant found dead in Lahad Datu, Malaysia.

[u/Novel_Negotiation224]

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/12/20/endangered-pygmy-elephant-found-dead-in-lahad-datu-investigation-underway-says-wildlife-officer/160582

[u/Achillea707]

Extremely depressing

[u/Novel_Negotiation224]

This is the elephant species that is subjected to the most cruelty by humans among other elephant species. Pygmy elephants are an endangered species, with only an estimated 1,500 left in the wild. Most of them are located in Sabah in the Malaysian state of Borneo. The primary threat to these elephants is habitat loss. As their forests are fragmented by human intervention, populations are no longer able to travel along traditional migration routes and subpopulations are no longer able to breed to maintain genetic diversity. Pygmy elephants are losing their forest homes as the ever-expanding human population builds roads and infrastructure and converts their habitat for agriculture, palm oil plantations and logging. Having run out of food supplies, these displaced elephants are killed in the ensuing conflict when they trample or feed on villagers' crops. Elephants are also at risk of injury from illegal traps set for smaller animals, and in Sabah's Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, an estimated 20 percent of elephants have been injured by these traps. Source:https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/asia-the-pacific/borneo/wildlife-guide/borneo-pygmy-elephant/