| Borneo’s Pygmy Elephants |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Jason Peters |
| Monday, 28 February 2011 16:32 |
|
Description: Borneo's pygmy forest elephants were once believed to be a feral population derived from domesticated imported Asian elephants, but DNA testing has confirmed they are a unique subspecies, who've lived on Borneo for at least 300,000 years. This film tells the story of forest guide, Bert Dausip, observing and befriending the elephants. His daily deep-jungle expeditions reward him with some of the most intimate and close up encounters with forest elephants ever filmed. Bert discovers one year old Fig and his elephant family living in the forests alongside the Kinabatangan River, in northeastern Sabah. In befriending these elephants Bert has discovered that Pygmy elephants are far gentler than anyone could have ever imagined. They aren't the aggressive killers that people think they are. Even females with newborns accept his presence. Bert is probably the only person in the world who can track down and observe forest elephants in their wild forest home on a daily basis. This in itself is a spectacular accomplishment, but little did Bert know that once he collected the DNA samples for science his familiarity with the pygmy elephants would become crucial to an action plan to save these remarkable animals and their habitat. Positive results: This film culminates in Bert's successful mission to save the elephants from poachers and have their forest home protected. Following Bert we witness some incredible footage revealing previously unknown behaviour and the most intimate secrets of elephant family life. "A one hour film about the discovery that Borneo's elephants are in fact endemic to the island and likely a sub-species of the indian elephant, rather than an introduced feral pest which everyone believed until 2004. Their habitat is being turned into palm oil plantation, so this film was shown to government ministers with the result that they designated a swathe of land along the river to be protected for the elephants." Joe Kennedy, Director Awards: International Wildlife Film Festival 2007, Montana, Best Human-Wildlife Interaction Wildlife Asia Festival, Singapore, The Echidna Award - Best Conservation/VNR/News Non-Profit DVD Availability: Contact/Links:
|
Title: Borneo's Pygmy Elephants
