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A powerful male Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) approaches our safari jeep in Udawalawe National Park. In musth—a period of heightened testosterone and aggression—this majestic bull made it clear who ruled the road. We respectfully backed up after observing him from a safe distance, standing our ground as long as we felt it was responsible.

Captured in the heart of Sri Lanka’s wilderness, this encounter was a thrilling reminder of the raw beauty and unpredictability of nature.

(Video) A Borneo Gibbon does his thing- swinging in the branches. This is in the Malacca/ Melaka zoo in Malaysia. I have seen one of these critters in the wild when I visited a wildlife camp on the Kinabatangan River back in 2014. Of course, that one was way, way up in the trees and I could not see his face. Unlike most Gibbon species, the Borneo Gibbon or Müller's Gibbon does not show sexual dimorphism in its fur coloration. Its fur is grey- or brown-colored with a ring of bright fur around its face. On the head, the Borneo Gibbon often has a darkly colored cap. Weighing between 4–8 kg, it ranks among the smaller of the gibbons. Notes about the Malacca/ Melaka zoo appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Malacca/ Melaka, Malaysia, Sept. 2023)

A selfie against the weirdly yellow Borneo Pygmy Elephants in the Malacca/ Melaka zoo. I missed seeing these elephants in the wild when I visited a wildlife camp on the Kinabatangan River in 2014, thanks to rapid de-forestation and fragmentation of their their normal migration routes with scores of intervening plam oil plantations. Not to mention depletion of their food sources where vast tracts of forest are cleared for the said plantations. Hence, the pre- eminent threats to the Asian elephant today are habitat loss, degradation of forests, and fragmentation, which are driven by an expanding human population. This in turn leads to increasing human- elephant conflicts especially when elephants eat or trample crops. Hundreds of people and elephants are killed annually as a result of such conflicts. Notes about the Malacca/ Melaka zoo appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Malacca/ Melaka, Malaysia, Sept. 2023)

Another look at the Borneo Gibbon- I have seen this animal in the wild in Malaysian Borneo back in 2014 when I visited a wildlife camp on the Kinabatangan River. Borneo Gibbons or Southern Grey Gibbons are diurnal rain forest dwellers, characterized by unusually long arms, a characteristic feature of all Gibbons anyway, with which they brachiate through the trees. Gibbons live together in monogamous pairs, and defend their territory against intruders with long, loud singing. Their diet consists primarily of fruits. Notes about the Malacca/ Melaka zoo appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Malacca/ Melaka, Malaysia, Sept. 2023)

Borneo Pygmy Elephants in the Malacca/ Melaka zoo. Now where does that yellow colour come from, I wonder? The Borneo elephant, also called the Bornean Elephant or the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, is a subspecies of Asian elephant that inhabits northeastern Borneo, parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. It has become commonplace to refer to the Borneo elephant as a 'pygmy' subspecies, although adult elephants of Sabah of both genders are similar in height to their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia. Notes about the Malacca/ Melaka zoo appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Malacca/ Melaka, Malaysia, Sept. 2023)

Elephant in the wild on the island of Sri Lanka

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© Lawrence Goldman 2012, All Rights Reserved
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Asian Mammals.

Panthera tigris