Pygmy Elephant
by Matthew J Eaton

For the past century reports have come out of several African countries of small, yet adult elephants, the Pygmy Elephants. The Pygmy Elephants have been extremely well documented as far as cryptids are concerned, with photos, video footage, and even a number of captured specimens. Despite these facts the Pygmy Elephants are commonly seen as misidentified Forest Elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), genetic freaks, or individuals showing stunted growth.

These enigmatic elephants stand less then 6.6 feet at the shoulders, are hairy, and show a red fur (unlike the blue-furred forest elephant, whom scientists say the Pygmy Elephants are simply misidentified specimens of), and are one to three feet shorter then the forest elephant, currently the world's smallest known elephant. They are said to inhabit the dense swamplands of Africa and may even be semi-aquatic.

In 1905 an elephant standing a mere 3 ft 8 inches at the shoulder was captured in Congo and then transported to New York's Bronx Zoo, where it was exhibited for 10 years. At the time of its death, the elephant stood less then 6ft tall. Captured Pygmy elephants have also been showcased in zoos in both Zaire and Liberia in the 1960's and 70's. Though, in both cases, the elephants possessed mature tusks they were of a small stature and didn't grow at all during their tenure at the zoos.

While the Bronx Zoo's pygmy elephant, named Congo, was still amongst the living, zoologist Theodore Noack formally described it as a separate species then the African elephant and classified it as Loxodonta pumilio. Like zoologist Theodore Noack before them, zoologists Drs Wolfgang Böhme and Martin Eisentruat again announced that the Pygmy elephant should be regarded as a separate species citing anatomical and behavioral findings to support there claims. Their findings included confirmation that tusked individuals were adults and not juveniles as previously thought, and the discovery of a dead female Pygmy elephant with a full term fetus, and sightings of entire Pygmy elephant herds (some of which were filmed).

A year later, in 1990, the West-German ambassador to Congo, Harald Nestroy, photographed a herd of Pygmy Elephants. Nestroy determined that the adult individuals in the herd were no more then 5ft tall by using a great egret as a scale. He described the juveniles of the group to be about the size of a sheep dog. Other photographs taken by Nestroy in the same area were of forest elephants and water buffaloes. The forest elephants were clearly larger than the previously observed Pygmy elephants and the water buffaloes were around the same size.

Despite the amount of evidence supporting the existence of Pygmy elephants to this day they are still considered to be mere freak individuals amongst normal forest elephants. It's sad that despite the fact that a number of specimens were captured for a period of times and even displayed at zoos more scientists didn't take the opportunity to examine their queer features. Perhaps if a similar chance presents itself in the near future science won't dismiss them as freaks without a proper examination.

Works Cited:

"Cryptozoology A to Z" by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman

"The Unexplained" by Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker