With only approximately 1, 000 Borneo Elephants remaining in the wild, they have now been placed on the Endangered Species List. Native to the island of Borneo, the Borneo elephant is a sub-species of the Asian Elephant and they happen to be the smallest of the Asian elephants. It is reported that there are only about 400 breeding pairs of Borneo elephants remaining, putting the future of the species in peril. Unsurprisingly, the Borneo elephant faces extinction as a direct result of human activity and the ESA protections will now funnel more money in to their conservation. What's killing all of the Borneo Elephants?

Other concerns for the Borneo Elephant's survival include illegal ivory poaching., continued development leading to further habitat degradation, and vehicular collision. Again, all of these perils can be traced to humanity. The plight of the Borneo elephant is not unlike other species on our planet currently facing possible extinction. Let's look at the facts;

• As our populations continue to grow across the world, more resources, more land, and more food will be needed to sustain us. We will continue to decimate forests, take land away from wild animals for our agriculture and animal farming, and we will undoubtedly encounter more wild animal conflicts as they lose more and more of their habitat
• Poaching continues to be a widespread problem on our planet. Despite the tireless efforts of anti-poaching units and conservationists, illegal poaching continues to ravage wild animals. When we're de-horning rhinos or injecting their horns with substances that devalue them and glow so poachers know the horns are now worthless, we know we are in a scary state. Elephant tusks, rhino horns, pangolin scales, bear bile...everything we take without regard puts every species further and further in to desperation and inevitable extinction.

With resources, time, and efforts being allocated to the Borneo Elephants' survival, there's always hope. Will these efforts stave off continued development that destroys wild habitats? I'm doubtful. When you look at the plight of grey wolves in the United States, it took less than 4 years of being delisted before the species was already at risk of being endangered. 4 measly years to unravel 45 years of protections and efforts to rehabilitate the species. 

If we do not collectively, as a planet, start to look at our habits and how they're destroying everything around us, we will save nothing. Vaquitas are almost extinct and Mexico has done nothing. Wildfires fueled by a continuously warming climate decimated Koalas in Australia. North Atlantic Right Whales are plunging towards extinction and yet we have not diverted our boat traffic from their recognized habitat. Grey wolves are being hunted for sport and are plunging to extinction. Do I believe in my soul that we can save these species from extinction? Honestly, it will take all of us on this planet to change our ways or we will not be able to protect our plant's wildlife. We will be directly responsible for the extinction of everything around us and it will be too late when we wake up to our own atrocities. 

Unless we get to a point where we recognize that our continued, rapid expansion is killing everything around us, we will save nothing, including Borneo elephants. Unless we recognize that our ever-expanding livestock farming is taking valuable, much needed land away from wild animals & polluting the surrounding lands, wolves will die off. Unless we stop over-fishing, we will kill Vaquitas, our boats will continue to collide with whales, and turtles will continue to drown, stuck in discarded fishing gear.

The choice is ours. I simply fear that too many of us just don't care enough. Learn more about the Borneo Elephant by visiting the link at the top of this post.

After only 2 months of being announced by the Australian Parliament, Australia has officially banned the live maritime export of sheep which officially commences in 2028. This will save hundreds of thousands of sheep from the horrors of lengthy journeys to their slaughter. As we've touched on before, animals that are shipped around as "cargo" often endure grueling journeys to their final destinations. Live exports are widely known to be unsafe for animals, undeniably cruel, and put these animals at extreme risk of tragedy due to the possibility of capsizing for example.

Australia's move to ban live sheep exports are being celebrated by activists around the globe. This move is also prompting activists in the EU to put pressure on EU leaders to enact a similar ban. The EU is the largest exporter of live animals with in upwards of 1.5 million birds, 50+ million cows, pigs, sheep, and goat transported within the EU annually. Activists are urging leaders to abandon live exports by sea in favour of more compassionate and less dangerous transport options. The eventual hope is that transporting live animals by sea will be globally banned in the future.

These journeys are undeniably cruel to animals and as stated, there are so many complications and possible scenarios that put these animals in incredible danger. Many stories have emerged about boats capsizing, plunging thousands of terrified animals in to the ocean to die. It's a frightening thought but a reality for animals subjected to these journeys.

It's time for us to open our eyes to the horrors we impose on animals. They're already being forced to give their lives for our plates, we shouldn't be knowingly torturing them prior to this. Congratulations to Australia for taking steps to better animal welfare but there's always more work to be done! Learn more through the attached link at the top of this post.