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Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Pygmy Elephants? 

Sanjay sent me this most interesting story about pygmy elephants being found in the Peppara sanctuary in Kerala. Before you scoff, have a look at the link, for there is a photograph that accompanies the story.

Wildlife photographer Sali Palode and `Kani' tribesman Mannan encountered a small herd of five-foot-tall elephants in Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary in the State last week, sparking speculation whether the pygmy elephants the tribesmen of the region had been talking about were, indeed, real.

They came across five of these elephants in a clearing close to the edge of the sanctuary. The animals scurried into the thickets on sensing human presence, but Mr. Sali Palode snapped a few pictures of one. But for their small size, the elephants looked like full-grown adults, according to him. He also ruled out the possibility of these animals being calf elephants, as calf elephants are not known to move in a herd of their own, unaccompanied by their elders.There were no normal-sized elephants in the herd. 'Kani' tribesmen living in the Agasthyavanam Forests in southern Kerala had for long been talking about pygmy elephants, which they call `kallana'.


The WWF had established (by DNA testing) in 2003 the presence of a distinct sub-species of pygmy elephants in Borneo.