NATURE & WILDLIFE

borneo's pygmy elephants

Borneo’s pygmy forest elephants are recently discovered as a DNA-unique species. Forest Gide Bert Dausip observations and befriending of them results in a mission of preservation. Incredible footage reveals intimate secrets of elephant-life.

programme information

Duration

1 x 60'

Production Company

A Michael Patrick Wong & Off the Fence co-production In association with France 3 | NDR Naturfilm | Studio Hamburg Documentaries | ORF | Animal Planet | Discovery HD

Executive Producer

Ellen Windemuth

YOP

2006

Episode Information

Borneo’s diminutive pygmy forest elephants were always thought to be a feral population derived from domesticated Asian elephants. Now, though, DNA testing has confirmed that they are a unique subspecies who’ve lived on Borneo for at least 300,000 years.

This is the story of a forest guide, Bert Dausip, who observes and befriends the elephants. His daily expeditions deep into the jungle reward him with some of the most intimate and close up encounters with forest elephants ever filmed. This film documents his mission to save them from poachers, and protect their forest home.

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.

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