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Penelope, Your Pygmy Elephant...
![Pygmy Elephant mom and calf]()
Pygmy Elephant Mom and Calf
photo: Christy Williams |
Dear Alan,
Today marks the 6-month anniversary of the first-ever scientific study of five female pygmy elephants involved in the pioneering WWF project.
And we have some news: Penelope, the pygmy elephant WWF supporters like you helped name, travels in the largest herd -- 30 - 40 elephants.
Unfortunately, she lives in a forest that is being actively logged, which is likely causing her herd to move more because of the disturbance to her
home.
In July, WWF outfitted five pygmy elephants with collars transmitting GPS locations to WWF daily via satellite. That data has supplied WWF scientists with
revolutionary research data. Today, we're bringing the research study to your desktop. Track the elephants' movements
online!
Groundbreaking Research Findings:
The elephants' movements are noticeably affected by human activity. Elephants living in areas with the most human disturbance, such as logging and
commercial agriculture, spend more time on the move than elephants in more remote areas.
![Pygmy Elephant]()
Pygmy Elephant emerging from the woods
photo: Christy Williams |
Most of the elephants spend at least some of their time in palm oil plantations or near human habitation, which leads to conflict with people. In
recent years, much of the elephants' habitat has been converted to tree plantations that produce palm oil.
Each elephant belongs to a herd of 30-50 elephants but often splits off into smaller groups for days or weeks at a time. Since elephants live in
matriarchal societies, WWF collared only adult female elephants so that each elephant collared represents a whole herd's movements.
The elephants' diet consists of at least 162 species of plants. This was determined during field tracking that supplements the satellite tracking.
It was proved that certain forest quality could also influence the diversity and distribution of the elephant food in the forest, with encroachment into palm
oil plantations being higher along the degraded forest-oil palm areas.
The reality is the once-lush forests of northeast Borneo - the only home for pygmy elephants in the world - have been cleared extensively over the
past 30 years in order to establish tree plantations to satisfy the world's demand for palm oil. Our findings suggest that Penelope's behavior could be due
to the stresses associated with habitat destruction.
![Elephant Plush]()
WWF must continue studying this newly identified subspecies in order to gain greater insight on their behavior so that we can implement a common sense and
inclusive conservation solution. Please help us
continue our groundbreaking research. Any gift you give today will be put to immediate use.
But when you make a contribution of $50 or more, you'll receive this limited-edition elephant plush as a special thank you. Please help protect pygmy elephants - like
Penelope - today!
Sincerely,
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Bruce Harris
Director, Member Services
P.S. Every dollar you contribute today
makes us that much more effective in our conservation efforts. Remember, if you donate $50 or more, you can receive your FREE limited-edition
elephant plush to serve as a reminder of the important conservation work you support.
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