Newly discovered pygmy elephants in Borneo are being outfitted with transmitters to allow orbiting satellites to track them as they migrate through dense rain forest mountains.
Experts use dart guns to tranquilize them and to put on tag collars, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) spokesman Stefan Ziegler. Each tag, a grey, brick-like device strapped around the elephant's neck, will transmit its whereabouts to a satellite three times a day for 18 months until the battery runs out. It will be replaced as often as necessary over the course of the five-year project. A link on WWF's Web site gives the daily position of each elephant.
"It will be like having a window seat into the life of the Borneo elephant," Ziegler said.
Pygmy elephants were long considered the same as Asian elephants. A myth held that they were remnants of a domesticated herd given as a gift by the British to a Borneo sultan in the 17th century.
They were not considered a conservation priority until a chance DNA analysis by WWF and New York's Columbia University in 2003 revealed them to be a genetically distinct subspecies.
"We still know very little about pygmy elephants. Any new information we get will be landmark evidence," Ziegler said.
Borneo pygmy elephants have significantly different characteristics from their cousins found on mainland Asia and Sumatra. They are relatively tame and mild-tempered compared to other Asian elephants, they are also smaller in size. There are estimated to be fewer than 1,500 of the elephants. Compared to other elephants, Borneo's pygmy elephants are baby-faced and gentle-natured.
DNA evidence shows Borneo's elephants were isolated about 300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and Sumatra. During that period, they grew smaller with larger ears, longer tails and straighter tusks. Their genetic distinctiveness makes them a high priority population for conservation.
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