Category Science

Who are the smallest subspecies of elephant in the world?

The Borneo elephant also known as the Borneo pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) is unique to the forests of northeastern Borneo, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Rotund appearance

As its name implies, it is the smallest subspecies of the Asian elephant. Just under 8 foot tall, these elephants have large ears round belies, and long tails, so long that they could even brush the ground as they walk. The females are smaller than the males and either have tiny tusks or none at all. At the end of their long trunk is a single, prehensile finger, which it uses to collect grasses, leaves, fruits and other plants. Reaching down for a drink of water is easy too. One adult can eat up to 150 kg of vegetation per day. Favourite food? Of course, it’s durian and wild bananas which are common in its habitat.

Gentle nature

Borneo elephants are gentler compared to Asian and African elephants. In fact, there are very tame and quite passive, which has led some to believe that they once belonged to a domesticated herd. The story goes that in the 17th Century, the Sultan of Sulu was given a collection of captive elephants, and these were released into the jungles of Borneo. Scientific evidence by way of DNA studies shows that Borneo elephants are local to the region. Their lifespan is anywhere between 50 and 70 years.

Matriarchal system

Borneo elephants are sociable animals and live in matriarchal hierarchy. They form small groups of 8 individuals on average, which are dominated by females. Families typically comprise mothers, daughters, sisters and immature males (occasionally – an adult male). Mature males tend to be solitary or form temporary bull herd.

Behaviour

Family units occasionally gather together. This association is highly beneficial for them, helping keep genetic diversity, which, in turn, is vital for their survival. These active elephants are known to wander throughout their habitat, travelling up to 25-30 miles a day. Borneo elephants are migratory animals. Seasonal migration helps them keep themselves in good physical shape. They are good swimmers too.

Breeding

Calves are born after a gestation of 19-22 months. Only one calf is born. Elephants give birth about every 4-6 years, although this period may be extended when conditions are unfavourable for survival, such as during drought. The little one is fed by its mother till the age of three or four. It is the centre of attention among a herd.

Endangered

Pygmy elephants are an endangered species with barely around 1,500 individuals left in the wild, mostly found in Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. The primary threat to these elephants is habitat loss. As human encroachment wipes out forests, the herds are no longer able to travel along their traditional migration routes and sources of food. These homeless elephants also get killed in conflicts when they enter farmland and trample on crops are eat them up. Some get caught in snares erected by humans to trap other animals.

Hence, conserving forests and maintaining elephant corridors is essential if these elephants are to be saved from becoming extinct.

Quick facts

  • Borneo Pygmy elephants are native to Borneo Island.
  • They are smaller than African elephants.
  • They belong to Elephantidae family.
  • Their average life expectancy is in the range of 60-75 years.
  • They are cute and baby-faced.
  • The female can grow to a height of around 4 to 7 feet.
  • Males grow up to a height of around 7 to 8.2 feet.
  • They weight between 3000 – 5000kg.
  • They are usually grey, but occasionally the colour varies from brownish to blackish grey.

 

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How Africa struggle locust invasion?

Billions of locusts have been swarming through East Africa, particularly Kenya, which saw the worst outbreak in 70 years. They spread from Ethiopia and Somalia. The massive swarms entered Kenya in December and tore through pastureland in the north and centre of the country. Left unchecked, locust numbers could increase 500 times by this June, spreading to Uganda and South Sudan. It could become a plague that will devastate crops and pasture in a region which is already hit by series of droughts and floods. This could lead to a major food security problem, says the UN. The FAO says the current invasion is known as an “upsurge” – when an entire region is affected. However, if it gets worse and cannot be contained, over a year or more, it would become which is known as a “plague” of locusts.

 

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How India ward off locust invasion?

The current attack began in January 2019. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, which monitors and manages locust invasions, between February and June, widespread breeding in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran caused the formation of large numbers of locust swarms. (These areas reported heavy rains in January.)

Control operations were less successful in Iran and Yemen and swarms invaded the India-Pakistan border between June and December. In India, the monsoon provided a favourable environment for the locusts to multiply. The outbreak began late last year in Gujarat and Rajasthan, where more than 3.5 lakh hectares of crop were affected in various districts. Crops of mustard, cumin and wheat were damaged. But a number of timely measures such as spraying of insecticides and a change in wind direction prevented the spread and larger damage. However, some farmers have lost their entire crops and may need replanting.

 

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How do you control a swarm of locusts?

Controlling locust swarms is no easy task. The larger the swarms, the more difficult the task becomes.

  • At present, the primary method of controlling desert locust swarms and hopper bands is to use pesticides, which is applied in small concentrated doses by vehicle-mounted and aerial sprayers. (However, this led to environmental concerns).
  • Natural predators such as wasps, birds and reptiles may prove effective at keeping small swarms at bay.
  • Other strategies include catching them in nets, driving them away by burning tyres, collecting hoppers with catching machines, trapping them in duties, and other mechanical methods.
  • One of the most effective ways to avoid the devastating effects of locust players is to prevent them from happening in the first place. Early warning and preventative control strategies are in place in some places. Locust monitoring stations collect data on weather, ecological conditions and locust numbers, making forecasts of the timing and location of breeding.

 

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Which are the dreaded locusts?

  • The desert locust is potentially the most dangerous of the locusts because of the ability of swarms to fly rapidly across great distances. Plagues of the desert locust have threatened agricultural production in Africa, the Middle East and Asia for centuries.
  • During quiet periods (known as recessions) the desert locust is usually restricted to the semi-arid and arid deserts of Africa, the Near East and South-West Asia, inhabiting some 30 countries (including India) but during plagues, they may spread over an enormous area of nearly 30 million sq. km., extending over 60 countries.
  • According to the National Geographic, a single swarm of the desert locust can be 460 square miles in size and pack between 40 and 80 million individuals into less than half-a-square mile. Each locust can eat its weight in plants each day, so a swarm of such size would eat 423 million pounds of plants every day.
  • The desert locust flies with the wind and swarms can travel from about five to 130 km or more in a day. Solitary adults usually fly at night whereas gregarious adults fly during the day. The locust can live between three and six months, and there is a 10- to 16-fold increase in locust numbers from one generation to the next.

When conditions are right

  • The desert locust reproduces and increases in numbers, when conditions are favourable. It needs moist, sandy soil to lay eggs and fresh vegetation for hoppers (nymphs) to grow into adults. A good monsoon is therefore a cause for concern.
  • Females lay about 95 to 158 eggs in an egg pod in soft soils at a depth of 10 to 15 cm below the surface. The location needs to be at the night temperature and right degree of dampness.
  • Thought it’s still a mystery what triggers solitary insects to become gregarious, scientists have theorised that a primary cause of the switch happens when individuals regularly touch others on the hind legs within populations. When population starts to build up following a period of drought, individuals concentrate in an environment while foraging. As young insects get more crowded, the close physical contact causes the insects’ hind legs to bump against one another. This triggers a change in behaviour, they say.

 

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Can half of your brain be asleep?

Birds such as swifts, songbirds, seabirds, and sandpipers also sleep unihemispherically, with half of their brain shut. This helps them during long flights.

Keeping one half of the brain at rest, called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, is in direct contrast to the typical situation where sleep and wakefulness are mutually exclusive states of the whole brain, the scientists say. “We have found that birds can detect approaching predators during unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, and that they can increase the use of unihemispheric sleep as the risk of predation increases,” they report.

The scientists studied groups of mallard ducks while they rested side by side and found that those at the edge of the group were significantly more likely to keep one eye open, with the closed eye being on the side of its nearest neighbour.

“We have found that birds sleeping under risky situations spend more time with one eye open and half the brain awake, and choose to direct the open eye towards a perceived threat,” added Dr Rattenborg.

 

Picture Credit : Google