This is a baby pygmy elephant at the San Francisco Zoo during the 30's, when the zoo attempted to breed Pygmy Elephants in captivity. Today, Borneo Pygmy Elephants are endangered and a tiny number of them (30 or so) reside in the lush Malaysian state of Sabah (Danum Valley Conservation Area in eastern Borneo), and nowhere else in the world.

Imagine that for a minute - 30 (thirty) of something exists in the world, and even that number is decreasing every day because Man is swallowing up its habitat where the elephants must feed, breed and survive.

Because of their docile nature and small stature, it was first assumed that Borneo's mysterious pygmy elephants were "feral elephants"; the modern descendants of domesticated elephants brought to Borneo by a Sultan in the 17th century, then set free, where they survived and resurfaced years later.

After more and careful study by conservationists, they are now about to be categorized as their own subspecies - modern descendants of ancient Asian elephants who became isolated when glaciers melted 20,000 years ago. These elephants are some of the most gentle, meek creatures I have ever seen, and they exhibit caring and nurturing traits in their interactions with each other, and an intense yet friendly curiousity of Man.

The World Wildlife Fund is working with villagers there through education and conservation efforts to save them from extinction. With training, a handful of locals work with other elephants to drive Pygmy Eelphants away from villager's crops through safe measures, preventing the killing of these animals. In some places the villagers actually welcome the elephants, and can come up to them and touch them! Instead of being shot when crops are threatened as was done in the past, they are driven back into areas of the forests where they can find food. They are also working with the government to preserve as much of the forests and vegetation as possible to prevent the displacement of animals like the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, whose habitat is rapidly declining as the forests they live in are leveled for palm oil plantations.

These are really neat animals. I watched a show about them on one of the HD channels, where conservationists tracked a herd of elephants for a year with satellite GPS systems, as well as a Bornean conservationsist on land who recorded their behaviors in notebooks and videotaped them. He radioed WWF veterinarians who came in to treat elephants injured by snares set for other animals by poachers. The rope in the snares becomes deeply embedded in the elephant's flesh as they step into the snare, which causes painful injuries and death unless it is removed by a veterinarian. Conservationists tagged a select number of elephants with the GPS collars to study their range and habits. In addition, they can keep an eye on them with the satellite systems, saving precious hours or even days finding them if another one encounters a snare or dangerous threat.

These elephants are so cute when they gather together. What is the most endearing is the way their ears wiggle when they greet or talk to each other.

It's sad to think of these intelligent, nurturing creatures like these with such complex communication protocols facing extinction for the sake of commerce. But one by one, these elephants are being saved and will hopefully thrive one day, or at least endure and coexist with Man in an unchanging, safe habitat of their own.