“Borneo (/ˈbɔːrnioʊ/; Indonesian: Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.
The island is politically divided among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south.[4] Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. In the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island. The population in Borneo is 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses).[1][2][3] Additionally, the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan is situated on a small island just off the coast of Borneo. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, comprises about 1% of Borneo’s land area. A little more than half of the island is in the Northern Hemisphere, including Brunei and the Malaysian portion, while the Indonesian portion spans the Northern and Southern hemispheres.” -Wikipedia
The pygmy elephants of Borneo
At least 32 elephant species existed on planet earth. Some became extinct as early as the Miocene, but most species were exterminated by man. Since Homo sapiens migrate out of Africa 100 000 yr ago many species of mega fauna were wiped out. 40 000 yr Ago Homo sapiens migrated into Europe and was directly responsible for wiping out 23 genera or 59% of the mega fauna including the European elephants. Humans entered North America approximately 15 000 yr ago killing off 45 genera or 74 % of mega fauna including all North Americanelephants. Crossing the Bering strait they missed Wrangler Island but eventually H. sapiens land on Wrangler Island about 5000yr ago. On Wrangler Island thelast Mammoths were hunted to extinction just 3600yr. ago.
Man and elephant have a long history together. The oldest evidence of tame elephants came out of the Indus valley civilisation of about 4500BC. Elephants were used by man for transport, war, agricultural, domestic work and entertainment. After returning from his triumphant campaigns in 79BC Pompey killed at least 20 elephants to entertain his fellow Romans. On another account3500 Elephants were killed in the roman circus during the reign of Augustus. Alexander the Great, Hannibal, the Mughals and ancient Egyptians all used elephants for warfare. Hannibal used elephants from Africa and Syria to cross the Alps in 218BC. The roman elephants originate from Africa, Asia and India.
The question arise how did ancient man transport these elephants? It’s known that elephants can walk long distances. Provided food and water, elephants travelled from India to Europe. After his last big battle Against Purros,Alexander the Great took Elephants back to Europe.
For the ancient people it was a huge challenge to build ships that could transport elephants across oceans.
Snerfo (4th dynasty) built 100 cubit ships in 2600BC to transport 7000 prisoners and 200 000 cattle from the land of the Negro (Sudan). It is likely that these ships could transport elephants on the calm and slow flowing Nile. During the second millennium BC obelisks weighing 300 tons were transported from Aswan to Giza on the Nile. Ptolemy 2 (283-246BC) was probably the first documented leader that transported elephants on the sea. He established ports along the Red sea for transporting elephants. The ports of Ptolemais Theron and Bernice Troglodytica had specially built docks and ramps to handle elephants.
The elephants that Ptolemy 2 transported were a separate subspecies (Loxodonto Africana pharaohensis) of the African elephant that occurred north of the Sahara desert. They were smaller and apparently easier to tame than the rest of Africa’s elephants. This was also the same elephant specie that Hannibal used on his epic Alpine crossing. However Hannibal’s personal elephant, Surus was a Syrian elephant (Elephas maximus asurus) which was much larger and roamed from Iran to Syria. Both these elephant subspecies became extinct in about 100BC because of the over exploitation by man.
In antiquity elephants played a critical role in battles and transport but their role declined during the middle ages. It also seems that the western world lost its ability to transport these huge animals. In the East however, the use of elephants continue and possibly also the ability to transport them across oceans.
Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in August 1492 with the Santa Maria, the largest of his three ships. The Santa Maria was a carrack of about 100 tons. Magellan sailed on the Victoria, also a carrack in 1522 to circumnavigate the world. Both the Santa Maria and Victoria were not capable of transporting elephants. In that time no European ships would have been able to transport elephants across any sea.
The remnants of the Magellan’s crew on the Victoria docked on the Island of Borneo in 1521. The chronicler of the voyage, Antonio Pigafetta recounted that the landing party were transported to the palace of the local ruler on elephants.During this same time period, other Europeans also set foot on Borneo, the third largest island in the world. They were amazed to find large populations of elephants in the deep jungles of the oldest rain forests in the world. Not only were these newly discovered elephants smaller than the Asian elephant, but also look and behave differently.
The diversity and abundance of plants and animals on Borneo caught the attention of scientist. Many new plant and animal species were discovered. The elephants immediately became controversial. Some scientist believe these elephants to be a different specie while other scientist believed that they somehow arrived here from mainland Asia and are only a variety of the Asian elephant.
The distribution of the elephants on Borneo was probably the most interesting of the unexplained new information regarding these elephants. These elephantswere only found in the forests of the north eastern corner of Borneo. Tropical rain forests covers most of the island, and there is no ecological explanation for the elephants not to occur in the rest of Borneo. It seems as if somebody offloaded them a few hundred years ago and left them to disperse to the rest of the island. Provided time they would have inhibited the remaining portion of Borneo as well. The only problem at the time was that no boat was nearly largeenough to transport elephants.
After the first Europeans arrived, hunting and deforestation resulted in the drastic decline of elephant numbers. I personally became interested to see these special elephants when their numbers drop below 2000 and start planning a visit to Borneo.
The Tabin forest reserve is probably the largest primary rain forest in northern Borneo. A population of elephants roam this magnificent untouched jungle. I followed a group of elephants for days but were not able to see them. One could hear the noise of elephants breaking branches and the interaction between individuals. One magic moment occurred when two Sumatra rhinos walked past the tree in which we waited for the elephants. I managed to take a few photos. This little woolly rhino is a subspecies of the Sumatra rhino and at that stage only thirty individuals survived in Borneo. Sadly they became extinct a few years ago.
It was on my second trip in April 2014 that I find myself in a small boat on the Kinabatangan River looking for elephants. I took Heste’ de Beer, a photographer with to document possible sightings. This time around we were in good luck. On three consecutive days we found big groups of elephants in the river playing and eating for hours. Heste’ managed to take many pictures.
The initial but remarkable behaviour was their total lack of fear for humans. We managed to steer the boat right up to them. At close distances the differences between these elephants and their Asian cousins can be seen. They are about 70% smaller then the Asian elephant with a long tail hanging down to the groundand a relative short trunk. Their faces are baby like and give them a cute like appearance. There is no doubt that these elephants belong to a different specie or sub specie. Their limited distribution on north eastern Borneo and total lack of elephant fossils on Boneo strongly suggested that these elephants came from another place. One possibility was elephants from nearby Sumatra, but the Sumatra elephant have larger ears and an extra pair of ribs. Genetic studiessuggest that the Borneo elephants separated more than 300 000 years from the Asian and Sumatra elephants.
Two unanswered questions remain; where did these elephants come from and how were they transported?
To answer these two questions we need to go back to the time just after the Mongols under the leadership of Genges Khan conquered most of Asia. After his death his nephew, Kuble Khan ruled a vast kingdom. In 1279 the Mongol empire extended over an area of 12.74 million square miles. That is 22% of the world. The great Khan had ambitious plans to conquer even more territory.
In 1274 the Great Kuble Khan’s fleet set sail out of the port of Masan in what is today Korea. This was a fleet of more than a thousand ships and about 30 000 soldiers on their way to attack Japan. The first ships arrived at the shores of Japan and immediately start the offensive. Other ships also moved nearer shore to join the fighting. It was then that a divine wave, probably a tsunami hit the Mongol fleet. Most of the ships were destroyed and the Mongol soldiers on land were soon whiped out because most troops were still on the sinking ships.
After this disaster the Great Khan regrouped for a revenge attack. In 1281 a massive fleet of almost 4000 ships set sail for Japan. In the South China Sea the Mongol fleet sailed into a typhoon. Al ships and soldiers perished again in the divine wind or better known in Japan as the Kamikaze. (Where the name for the Kamikaze pilots originated)
In 2011 under water explorers found many of the sunken Chinese ships near the shore of Nagasaki in Japan. The surprise for everybody involved was the size of these ships. These ships were many times larger than any ship build in Europe at that stage. These ships could easily transport elephants to the Island of Borneo. Researchers were confident that they now know how the elephants were transported. The size of these ships as well as the time frame solved the first problem. The second mystery however was to find out where did the elephants came from?
After Kuble Khans disastrous attacks on Japan, he shifted his focus to other areas. He ruled vast areas and collected taxes as far as Java. He then sends one of his tax collectors to collect outstanding money from the king of Java. The king, Kertanegera ruled Java from 1268 to 1292 and also had ambitious plans to enlarge his kingdom. He ruled from his capital city, Majapahit and trade with other nations as far as the Philippines.
On the arrival of Kuble Khan’s tax collector in Majapahit, Kertanegara cut his ears of and burned his face and sends him back to China. Kuble Khan was furious and immediately assembles another fleet to punish the Java king.
In 1293 Kuble’s fleet set sail for Java. While the Mongol fleet was on their way to Java Kertanegara was murdered by his nephew Radan Wijaya who ruled from 1293 to1309. The Mongols immediately attack on arrival in Java. To theirsurprise the Java soldiers counter attack on the back of local Java elephants.
The Mongols were no match for the elephants and retreated to their ships. They set sail to other islands and conquered additional land. They left the Majapahit kingdom in peace to be ruled by their own kings for many years. The Majapahitbecame a power in the region and trade with many friendly kingdoms as far as the Sulu Sea and Borneo. The Mongols however keep on trading with the Majapahit and other kingdoms of this region and used their superior ships to do most of the sea transport.
Wikramawardhana ruled the Majapahit kingdom from 1389 to 1429. One of his trading partners was the Sultan of Sulu, and as a gift he sends him Java elephants. It was in 1395 that these elephants arrive in Jolo the capital of the Sulu islands. The elephants were probably transported on a Chinese ship. Some of these elephants became feral on Sulu Island soon after their arrival. The Sultan of Suluwas afraid that his rivals would use the elephants to make war against him. He then transports some of the elephants to Sandakan on the island of Borneo and let them free in the forest.
On the island Java the last Java elephants were hunted down and they became extinct in the 18th century.
On the Island of Sulu the Java elephants did not do any better. In 1814 John Hunt reported feral elephants on Sulu. He also reported that the local farmers organized grand hunting matches after the crops were collected. This was just another name for indiscriminate slaughter of elephants. The Sulu farmers succeeded in exterminating al the elephants on Sulu. In 1838 there were no elephants left on Sulu Island.
Elephas maximus sondaicus became extinct on its native Island of Java. Because of extraordinary circumstances the Java elephants did get a second chance on Sulu Island. On Sulu Island they also became extinct. In North Eastern Borneo a viable population of Java elephants exist today. About 1200 elephants still exist in spite of an ever expanding human population. In last 3 generations their numbers decline more than 50%. The Borneo pygmy elephants face a 3rdextinction.
Only 3% of the Borneo rainforest is left. Over population, deforestation and total disrespect for nature threatens almost all aspects of Borneo’s wildlife. The rhino’s are practically extinct with possibly one male and one female left. The sun bear and proboscis monkeys are critically endangered species. The Pigmy elephants are critically endangered and hopefully they will be properly protected in future because they will not get a third chance.
They are about 70% smaller then the Asian elephant with a long tail that hang down to the ground. Their faces are very baby like and give them a very cute like appearance. There is no doubt that these elephant are of a different genetic makeup.
With the aid of genetic analysis scientists proved that these elephants separated more than 30 000 years from the Asian elephant. This proved the fact that they are a separate sub species.
What followed is one of the most interesting detective stories done by biologists.
This amazing story begins after the Mongols, under the leadership of Genges Khan, conquered most of Asia. After his death his nephew, Kuble Khan ruled a vast kingdom. In 1279 the Mongol empire was 12.74 million square miles big. That is 22% of the world. The great Khan had very ambitious plans to conquer even more territory.
In 1274 the Great Kuble Khan’s fleet set sail out of the port of Masan in what is today Korea. This was a fleet of more than a thousand ships and about 30 000 soldiers on their way to attack Japan. The first ships arrived at the shores of Japan and immediately start the offensive. Other ships also moved nearer shore to join the fighting. It was then that a divine wave, probably a tsunami hit the Mongol fleet. Most of the ships were on land were destroyed and the Mongol soldiers on soon wiped out because most troops were still the sinking ships.
After this disaster the Great Khan regrouped for a revenge attack. In 1281 a massive fleet of almost 4000 ships set sail for Japan. In the South China Sea the Mongol fleet sailed into a typhoon. All ships and soldiers perished again in the divine wind or better known in Japan as the Kamikaze. (Where the name for the Kamikaze pilots came from.)
Underwater explorers found many of the sunken ships near the shore of Nagasaki in Japan. The surprise for everybody involved was the size of these ships. These ships were many times bigger than any ship build in Europe at that stage. These ships could easily transport elephants.
That was the end of Kuble Khan’s ambition to conquer Japan, but he still ruled huge areas in other parts of the world. It was after his disastrous attack on Japan that Kuble Khan sent one of his tax collectors to the Island of Java to collect outstanding money from the king of Java. The king’s name was Kertanegera who ruled Java from 1268 to 1292 and he also had plans to enlarge his kingdom. His capital city was named Majapahit.
On the arrival of Kuble Khan’s tax collector in Majapahit, Kertanegara cut his ears off, burned his face and sent him back to China. Kuble Khan was furious and immediately assembled another fleet to punish the Javan king.
It was in 1293 that Kuble’s fleet set sail for Java. While the Mongol fleet was on their way to Java, Kertanegara was murdered by his nephew who became the next king. His name was Radan Wijaya and he ruled from 1293 to 1309. The Mongols immediately attacked on arrival in Java. The Java soldiers used elephants to fight the invaders. The Mongols were no match for the elephants and retreated to their ships. They set sail to other islands and conquered more land but the Majapahit kingdom as it was known, was ruled by its own kings for many years. They became a power in the region and traded with many friendly kingdoms as far as the Sulu Sea. The elephants they used came from their own island and looked different from any other elephant.
King Wikramawardhana who ruled from 1389 to 1429 was then also known as the Sultan of Java. One of his trading partners was the Sultan of Sulu and as a gift he sent him Java elephants. It was in 1395 that these elephants arrived in Jolo, the capital of the Sulu islands. The elephants were probably transported on a Chinese ship. The Sultan of Sulu was afraid that his rivals would use the elephant to make war against him. He then transported the elephants to Sandekan on the island of Borneo and let them free in the jungle.
On the island Java the last elephants were hunted down and they became extinct. A succession of amazing events between 1274 and1395 saved the Java elephants from extinction and they now roamed the forests of northern Borneo.
Only 3% of the Borneo rainforest is left.
Over population, deforestation and total disrespect for nature threatens almost all aspects of Borneo’s wildlife. The rhino’s are on the brink of extinction with less then 10 left. The sun bear (right) and proboscis monkeys are endangered species. The Pigmy elephant’s population IS also under threat and hopefully will be properly protected in future because they will not get a second chance.