Wildlife authorities have rescued two starving pygmy elephants in Borneo after they were ab.and.o.ned by their mothers.
Plantation workers discovered a two-year-old female elephant stuck in a moat on Friday. Two weeks after, a six-month-old female was found roaming another plantation in Sabah state, eastern Malaysia.
Laurentius Ambu, director of the state’s wildlife department, said: ‘We’ve never had this experience before where mothers ab.an.don their babies.’
He said officials are now investigating what may have caused the mothers to ab.an.don their children. It is unclear how long the elephants were alone.
Both elephants will be kept at a wildlife park in Sabah.
The Borneo pygmy elephant, genetically distinct from other subspecies, is known for its babyface, large ears, and relatively long tail.
Mr. Ambu estimates there are between 1,400 and 2,000 pygmy elephants in Sabah.
They are still endangered, but their numbers have stabilized in recent years amid conservation efforts to protect their forest habitat from being destroyed to create plantations and development projects.
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