We apologize for the inconvenience! You are seeing this message because your site has recently been targeted by attackers attempting to gain access to your WordPress Dashboard. In order to protect your site your WordPress Login page has been temporarily disabled.
Unfortunately, you will be unable to login to the Dashboard until the block expires.
Iman is the last wild Sumatran rhino to have been found in Malaysia. She was captured in Danum Valley and safely transported to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in March 2014. This half-tonne female suffers from severe fibroids in her uterus but she retains her oestrus cycle and has so far supplied ten eggs towards the first experimental attempts at in-vitro fertilization in efforts to save her species. Despite her poor health, she is the noisiest and most excitable of the three rhinos in BORA’s care.
SAN DIEGO – Victoria, a southern white rhino at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, is pregnant. It’s an event of vital importance for a program to bring back her nearly extinct kin, the northern white rhino.
The developing baby is also a southern white rhino, conceived on March 22 through artificial insemination. The pregnancy is a dress rehearsal for the ultimate goal of creating more northern white rhinos, grown from embryos made from stem cells.
The lengthy rhino gestation period means the baby isn’t due until the summer of 2019. A failure would mean more work needs to be done, or that the female is infertile.
Only two northern white rhinos are alive today, both females. The last male, Sudan, died in March in a Kenya preserve. Another white rhino, Nola, died in November 2015 at the Safari Park. She was one of four alive at that time.
Credit: AP PHOTO
Victoria and five other female southern white rhinos at the Safari Park’s Nikita Khan Rhino Rescue Center have been conditioned for years to willingly accept the most intimate handling, such as ultrasound examination of their reproductive tracts.
Jeanne Loring, a stem cell scientist at The Scripps Research Institute, has worked on this project with the zoo for years. She expressed delight in the news.
“That’s awesome,” Loring said from Germany. “It’s an amazing feat. This is a milestone.”
Much of the rhino reproductive system hasn’t been studied before, she said. So the zoo and allied researchers like Loring have had to invent the technology as they go along.
View the related video here.
The project’s roots go back decades to a dream inspired by Oliver Ryder, a geneticist at San Diego Zoo Global, the zoo’s conservation arm.
Ryder suggested deep-freezing tissue from endangered animals, in the hope that future technology could recreate whole animals from these cells. He established a cryobanked collection of tissue from these animals, known as the “Frozen Zoo.”
The technology to put these cells to use finally arrived in 2007. Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka demonstrated that adult mammalian cells can be turned into artificial embryonic stem cells. He shared a Nobel Prize in 2012 for his discovery.
Loring is leading a separate project to use the cells to treat Parkinson’s disease. These induced pluripotent stem cells, as they are called, are to be created from the patients themselves. They will be matured into brain cells of the type destroyed in Parkinson’s, then implanted into the patient’s brains.
The rhino project is even more complicated. Thawed cryopreserved tissue will be converted into the artificial embryonic stem cells, then matured into egg and sperm cells. These will be united by in vitro fertilization to create an embryo. This is what will be implanted into the southern white rhino surrogate mothers.
Loring and Ryder are co-authors of a recent study describing how stem cells were produced from four northern white rhinos with a method they say is superior. Unlike earlier methods, it doesn’t use viruses to deliver genes that help convert the cells. So the cells created have a healthier genetic profile.
The study, which has yet to be published, can be found at j.mp/rhinostem.
The Safari Park says the work may be applicable for other rhino species, including the critically endangered Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
This article appeared in VC Star on 18 May 2018. Read the original online article here.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Puntung, one of Malaysia’s last three Sumatran rhinoceros’ impending euthanasia due to skin cancer should be a wake-up call to ramp up conservation efforts of the species as it could well go extinct within the next ten years, groups have said.
In a statement, WWF Malaysia pointed out that the country is now left with only one female Sumatran rhinoceros and one male rhinoceros, Iman, and that the only other country for the species is neighbouring Indonesia — where there are less than 100 of them scattered in small, isolated groups in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
“If we want to reverse this trend, then the focus of Sumatran rhinoceros conservation should be on rescuing all remaining wild individuals for management in excellent fenced facilities, increasing the number of births, and facilitating the movement of the individuals and gametes among facilities as a population management tool.
“In summary there should be a single programme with the sole goal of making baby Sumatran rhinos,” WWF Malaysia said.
It suggested the use of advanced reproductive technology (ART), as advocated by Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) and being attempted with renowned international reproductive scientists as a means for conservation of the species.
“Additionally, the WWF Network Executive Team (NET) has mandated the creation of a Sumatran rhino working group, comprising of representatives from WWF-Indonesia and partner offices (including WWF-US, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar) with the view of pushing the Sumatran rhino conservation to the top of the agenda for the relevant governments, and to seek a common approach and agreements among all NGOs working on Sumatran rhino conservation.
“We therefore call upon the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia, and all Sumatran rhinoceros conservation organisations, to work together as a dedicated team. Let Puntung’s passing be the final wake-up call we desperately need for an international collaboration to finally take place. Together, anything is possible.”
In a separate statement, Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) Chairman Tun Musa Hitam said that those related to the conservation efforts should reflect on the present situation.
“After spending so much time and funding to conserve the Sumatran rhinoceros since 2009, I regret that it has come to this and let this be a lesson to all those related to the efforts as well as the world at large.
“This is a very sad development. Future generations would certainly blame us for failing to save this species from extinction,” Tun said.
From 2009 to February this year, YSD had spent RM13.8 million towards conserving the Sumatran rhinoceros, with funds channelled towards an artificial reproductive technology (ART) programme to help breed the Sumatran rhinoceros and help save the species from extinction.
Since 2009, YSD has committed RM131 million towards the protection of high conservation value ecosystems, vulnerable and endangered species as well as initiatives promoting the preservation of the environment and biodiversity.
Puntung, a 25-year-old rhino, suffered from an abscess that would not heal despite treatment since mid-March.
Last month, veterinarians assisted Puntung in extracting two molars and one premolar from its left upper jaw in bid to heal the abscess.
Puntung was captured in 2011 and is now being kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu, with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino. The sanctuary is managed by the non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance contracted by the SWD.
The sanctuary had planned to mate her with another captured male rhino, Tam, in a managed facility, but then found she had cysts in her uterus that made her unable to bear a pregnancy.
However, the sanctuary was reported to be working on in vitro fertilisation to breed more rhinos and to keep the species from becoming extinct altogether.
Prof. Madya Dr. Abdul Hamid Ahmad (centre) presenting a souvenir, a pewter rhino, to Y.Bhg. Brig. Gen Prof. Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Kamaruzaman Hj Ampon,Vice-Chancellor of UMS while Dr. Junaidi Payne looks on.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) will continue to support efforts to prevent the extinction of Malaysia’s most endangered species, the Sumatran rhino. This was the message from Y.Bhg. Brig. Gen Prof Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Kamaruzaman Hj Ampon, Vice-Chancellor of UMS, stressed to the Board of Directors of Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), during a courtesy call by BORA to the Vice-Chancellor on 7th June, 2010. “The administrative HQ of BORA is located within UMS. In addition to that, UMS would be happy to host post-graduate students who may wish to conduct research on the Sumatran rhino in Sabah,” said Professor Kamaruzaman. Formerly known as SOS Rhino Borneo, BORA is a Sabah-based non-governmental organization, established as a non-profit company, dedicated to working to save Sabah’s – as well as Malaysia’s and Borneo’s – most endangered wild animal species, the rhinoceros.
BORA informed Professor Kamaruzaman that the Sumatran rhino is now so rare that the species probably has a chance to survive only in Sumatra and Sabah. “Focusing on one species, that may well go extinct without a programme to reduce death rate and increase birth rate, has the advantage of ensuring that we target our efforts and avoiding distractions,” said Associate Professor Dr Abdul Hamid Ahmad, director of the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC) at UMS and Chairman of BORA. “But the rhino is down to such low numbers, no-one can be sure that the species will survive in Malaysia. Working with Sabah Wildlife Department and other key institutions, we will give it our best shot. Whatever happens, twenty or thirty years from now, we can all look back assured that we did whatever we could to save a species from extinction.” Dr Junaidi Payne, Executive Director of BORA, as well as consultant to WWF-Malaysia, expressed thanks to Professor Kamaruzaman and Dr. Abdul Hamid for providing office space for BORA in ITBC. “The individuals and institutions concerned with the rhino in Sabah now have to collaborate with one vision, if there is to be any hope of saving this species.” Cynthia Ong, founder of the NGO LEAP, and also a director of BORA, echoed this sentiment.
Kota Kinabalu: A life-saving operation has now given a new lease of life to Puntung, one of the two remaining female Sumatran rhinos in the country.
Puntung started feeding within two hours after the operation ended but post-operation care is still needed to ensure her environment remains clean, stress free and medication for pain relief, said Borneo Rhino Alliance veterinarian Dr Zainal Z Zainuddin. The 20-year-old rhino had suffered from an untreatable sepsis since mid-March this year.
Two molar teeth and one premolar from the rhino’s upper jaw were extracted in the operation which lasted two hours and 20 minutes at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, about 48km from Lahad Datu, Wednesday.
According to the Wildlife Department, the success was due to the assistance rendered by experts from Thailand and Singapore.
“This was a remarkable and successful operation that came about as a result of global discussion and multi-national collaboration over the last two weeks,” said the department’s Director, Augustine Tuuga, in a statement here.
Thai veterinary dentist Dr Tum Chinkangsadarn carried out the extraction and Singapore Zoo senior veterinarian Abraham Mathew aided in the anaesthetics.
South Africa-based “Saving the Survivors” group, Dr Johan Marais and Dr Zoe Glyphis, initiated the planning, procedures and provided major financial support for the operation.
Augustine said the two vets did a fantastic job despite working together for the first time to save Puntung.
“We also had department vets in attendance and to assist, as well as from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo Rhino Alliance,” he said.
The procedure began around 7am with x-ray done on Puntung which was under sedation.
Puntung was then put under general anaesthesia for 110 minutes before work on the severe calcification on large molar, where bacteria had accumulated causing an abscess, was carried out.
The calcification had also loosened two adjacent teeth.
Borneo Rhino Alliance veterinarian Dr Zainal Z Zainuddin said they were relieved over the operation, saying the specialist vets involved had given Puntung a new lease of life.
Read the article in the Daily Express online
The Borneo Post, 20 April 2017
KOTA KINABALU: After a successful dental surgery, Puntung, one of the only two female Sumatran rhinos still alive in Malaysia is showing signs of improvement.
She has started eating and wildlife officials and rhino conservationists in the state breathed a big sigh of relief after the surgery by Thai veterinary dentist Dr Tum Chinkangsadarn, State Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said.
Puntung has been suffering since mid-March from an abscess inside her upper jaw that would not heal despite treatment.
Augustine said that Dr Tum extracted two molar teeth and one premolar from Puntung’s left upper jaw during the operation that lasted two hours and twenty minutes on Wednesday morning.
“This was a remarkable and successful operation that came about as a result of global discussion and multi-national collaboration over the past two weeks,” he said.
“Sabah thanks Dr Tum and the team who had not worked together before but who did a fantastic job. Dr Abraham Mathew, senior veterinarian from Singapore zoo helped with anaesthesia. Dr Johan Marais and Dr Zoe Glyphis of South Africa-based ‘Saving the Survivors’ initiated the planning, advised on procedures and provided major financial support to ensure that the team got together in Tabin.
“We had vets in attendance and assisting from my department as well as Wildlife Department and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo Rhino Alliance,” he said.
The procedure started at 7am with X-rays done under sedation. Then Puntung was put under general anaesthesia for 110 minutes.
Dr Tum noted severe calcification of one large molar, which is where bacteria initially accumulated and led to the abscess. The calcification has also loosened two adjacent teeth.
Borneo Rhino Alliance veterinarian Dr Zainal Z Zainuddin said, “We are so relieved and very grateful to Dr Tum, ‘Saving the Survivors’ and the specialist vets who had given Puntung a new lease of life.
“Incredibly, she started feeding within two hours of the operation ending. But we are not done yet. There will be a period of post operation care which will mean trying to keep Puntung clean, stress-free and under medication including for pain relief,” Dr Zainal said.
To a question if the removal of Puntung’s molar would affect her survival as she won’t be able to chew properly, Augustine replied, “We hope for the best.”
Read the article on The Borneo Post online
Staff help out with caring for Puntung, the critically-ill Sumatran rhino. Pix courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department.
By Olivia Miwil, New Straits Times, 19 April 2017
KOTA KINABALU: Puntung, one of three remaining Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia which was reported to be critically-ill last month, is recovering following surgery this morning.
Sabah Wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga said the female rhino underwent a two-and-a-half hour operation to extract two molars and a premolar from the upper left side of her jaw, which had been causing a severe abscess.
The surgery was performed by veterinary dentist Dr Tum Chinkangsadarn from Thailand, who found that the source of the abscess was a formation caused by an accumulation of bacteria on the severely-calcified molars.
The calcification also loosened two adjacent teeth.
For the past two weeks, Puntung had not shown any signs of recovery, despite being administered antibiotics.
“This was a remarkable and successful operation that came about as a result of global discussion and multi-national collaboration over the past two weeks.
“Sabah thanks Dr Tum and the team who did a fantastic job, as well as Dr Abraham Mathew, senior veterinarian at the Singapore Zoo, who had helped with anaesthesia,” Augustine said in a statement, adding that the department was also assisted and supported by South Africa’s ‘Saving the Survivors’, the Wildlife and National Parks department in Peninsular Malaysia and the Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora).
He added that the procedure began at 7am, with X-rays taken under sedation for 110 minutes.
“She started feeding two hours after the operation.
“But we are not done yet, as there will be a period of post-operation care, by keeping Puntung clean, stress-free and medicated, including for pain relief,” Augustine added.
Puntung, along with female rhino, Iman, and male, Kertam, are being cared for by Bora at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu
Read the article on NST Online
By OLIVIA MIWIL – April 10, 2017 @ 12:32pm, NST Online
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department is not in the mood to celebrate just yet, although its critically-ill Sumatran rhino, Puntung, is showing signs of improvement.
Puntung, one of only three Sumatran rhinos left in Malaysia, condition reportedly showed signs of improvement over the weekend. Pictures courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department.
Puntung, one of only three Sumatran rhinos left in Malaysia, had suffered from a potentially dangerous abscess on her upper jaw two weeks ago.
Her condition reportedly showed signs of improvement over the weekend.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said Puntung had shown worsening symptoms of loss of appetite, intermittent bleeding from her left nostril and very passive behaviour on Thursday and Friday.
“Normally, she wo consume about 30 kilograms of fresh leaves and twigs daily.
“She ate very little over those two days, and spent most of the daytime lethargic in her wallow,” he said in a statement, adding that they had thought there was no hope left when intermittent bleeding was spotted on her left nostril.
On Saturday, Puntung became more active and the bleeding also stopped.
Augustine, however, said the department remains cautious on her condition despite the recovery signs.
The abscess poses grave concerns as the infection could cause sepsis and eventually death.
The loss of Puntung, would prove to be a catastrophic loss to the future of the species as at 25-years-old, she still has a few years of egg production left to be used for in-vitro fertilisation.
Puntung, along with female rhino, Iman, and male, Kertam, are being cared for by non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu.
Bora Executive Director Datuk Dr John Payne said a combination of constant attention, antibiotics, fruits and various supplements may have turned Puntung’s situation around.
Meanwhile, the sanctuary’s manager and veterinarian Dr Zainal Zainuddin said Puntung’s stubborn nature had made their job of treating her more difficult.
“We have been trying to take an X-ray for the past four days but she is irritated not only by pain but by our attention, not least the injections.
“We are in frequent contact with specialist rhino veterinary surgeons in South Africa, but they need to see the radiograph before we can decide how to proceed.”
Some rhinos in human care don’t reproduce well, which complicates efforts to sustain these important insurance populations. Scientists have worked for years to develop reliable means of artificial reproduction, with limited success.
Examples are scarce: A dozen years ago, a southern white rhino was born through artificial insemination in Budapest, and a greater one-horned rhino was born with such help in Miami in April.
Southern white rhinos of Africa, once close to extinction, have rebounded in protected sanctuaries. Edward’s arrival by artificial means thus would not have been quite the heralded event it was if not for one fact: His birth holds out hope for saving the functionally extinct northern white rhino.
Only two northern white rhinos remain in the world, and both are female. The last male died in March 2018. The duo lives under protective guard from poachers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. But there is hope, in the form of DNA from a dozen northern white rhinos banked at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, in a facility called the Frozen Zoo. Over the past 44 years, tissues and cells from some of the world’s most endangered species have been stored in this cryobank.
Analysis by my colleague Oliver Ryder, director of conservation genetics, has found that there is sufficient genetic variability in the frozen northern white rhino cell lines to theoretically reestablish the population. By collaborating with scientists around the world, we envision a future northern white rhino baby born to a southern white rhino surrogate. Perhaps Edward’s mother, Victoria, will fill that role.
Victoria and her new calf are doing well. Edward represents an important step in an effort to save a related white rhino subspecies, but what we learned from his birth could also help Sumatran and Javan rhinos.
At the moment, though, he is simply a baby rhino, staying close to his mother as she guards him, cuddles him (in rhino fashion, between her horns) and puts mud on his back to screen him from the summer sun.
Edward is also a lesson to all of us, a reminder that humans, as stewards of Earth, must protect species at risk of extinction.
The world faces an epic extinction crisis, outlined most recently in a United Nations report in May that brought together three years of work by nearly 150 researchers from 50 nations. Climate change, habitat loss, wildlife trafficking and other human-caused disturbances all play a role in the rising threat.
Humanity must work to preserve these species — in the wild and in managed care. Ideally, protective action will follow the guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s One Plan Approach to Conservation, which blends human management with preservation in the wild. But the world cannot wait until each species, one by one, vanishes before our eyes. Success will require initiating conservation efforts when it is possible to bolster and protect existing populations.
Last year, San Diego Zoo Global played a part in efforts to rebuild the black rhino population in Africa by sending a Safari Park-born 8-year-old black rhino to be released into the wild in Tanzania. He has joined a female black rhino at Singita Grumeti Reserves, where we hope they will help restore a rhino population that was lost in the region, and unite four scattered remnant populations of the species.
If they are successful, the species will recover long before it gets to the brink of extinction.
But the northern white rhino is already teetering on the brink. Now we are compelled to intervene using banked frozen cells rather than protecting populations of living individual animals.
Saving individual animals and family groups while fostering sustainable populations is the ideal conservation strategy. But sometimes artificial reproductive intervention may be the only way to avert extinction. With persistence leading to further scientific advances, Edward’s arrival will be living proof of that.
Read this article in the Omaha World-Herald
Tam at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, 2016 BORA Filepic
By JASON BITTEL published May 27, 2019 on National Geographic
Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhinoceros, Tam, has died—a serious blow for the critically endangered species, which is already extinct in the country.
Discovered poking around an oil palm plantation in 2008, Tam was captured and transferred to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the state of Sabah. Efforts to breed him with two female rhinos—Puntung, captured in 2011, and Iman, captured in 2014—proved unsuccessful.
With Puntung’s euthanization in 2017 due to cancer, Iman is now the nation’s sole remaining member of its species in Malaysia. Due to decades of habitat loss and poaching, fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos are thought to exist in the wild, most on the nearby island of Sumatra. The rest are scattered across Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo.
Read the full article on National Geographic.com
South China Morning Post, 27 May 2019
The last male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia has died of old age, dashing efforts to save the critically endangered species in the country.
Tam the rhino, who was in his 30s, lived at a wildlife reserve in Sabah state on Borneo island since his capture in 2008, according to Christina Liew, the state minister for tourism, culture and the environment.
“Regrettably, Tam died at mid-day, around noon on Monday. Invariably, everything that could possibly have been done, was done, and executed with great love and dedication,” Liew said in a statement on Monday.
“His last weeks involved the most intense palliative care humanly possible, rendered by the Borneo Rhino Alliance team under veterinary surgeon Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu,” said the minister.
Tam was believed to have died of old age, but the wildlife reserve would release more information after completing an autopsy report, Liew said.
Despite approaching middle age, Tam was not grumpy and was “quite the gentleman”, according to the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA). He had a calm and steady manner, although he was “a bit cheeky at times”, BORA said.
Sumatran rhinos are the smallest of the living rhinoceroses and the only Asian rhino with two horns. They are more closely related to the extinct woolly rhinos than any of the other rhino species alive today, according to the WWF. The Sumatran rhino was declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015.
Iman, Malaysia’s last female Sumatran rhino. Photo: Borneo Rhino Alliance
Iman, a female captured in 2014, is now the only surviving member of the subspecies left in the country.
She suffered a ruptured tumour in her uterus in December 2017, but was said to have been showed some signs of recovery by the end of the month, although she remains in poor health.
Another female rhino, jackfruit-loving Puntung, was euthanised in 2017 after suffering from incurable squamous cell cancer.
On Monday, WWF Malaysia called the loss of Tam a “wake-up call” and urged more action to save the endangered animals.
“Our hearts are filled with sadness as we mourn the loss of a species. With Tam gone, we now only have Iman left, our last female rhino. Let the loss of Tam be the wakeup call,” the group said in a tweet. “Our #wildlife needs protection.”
Wildlife experts estimate that only about 30 to 80 Sumatran rhinos remain in the world, mostly on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and on the Indonesian side of Borneo.
Their isolation, caused by habitat loss and poaching, means they rarely breed and may go extinct in a matter of decades, according to conservation group International Rhino Foundation.
Since 2011, Malaysia has tried to breed the species in captivity through in vitro fertilisation, but without success.
Liew said Tam’s genetic material has been preserved for future attempts to reproduce Sumatran rhinos.
“We hope that with emerging technologies at cell and molecular level, he may yet contribute his genes to the survival of the species,” she said.
Sabah conservationists feel that urgent steps should be initiated to prevent other wildlife species from meeting the Sumatran rhino’s fate.
They hoped for more attention to be given to the conservation of pangolins, banteng, the Bornean elephant, clouded leopard and sun bear whose numbers have dwindled over the years due to poaching and wildlife conflict.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/05/26/experts-weve-lost-battle-on-rhino-conservation/#pqm4XflTgcDxJfJL.99
By Avila Geraldine, NST Online May 27, 2019
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia’s last remaining male Sumatran rhinoceros, affectionately called Tam, has died today.
Tam died at about noon at Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister cum Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the exact cause of death would be known after the autopsy.
“Invariably, everything that could have possibly been done, was done, and executed with great love and dedication.
“(Tam’s) last weeks involved the most intense palliative care as humanly possible, rendered by the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) team under veterinarian Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary,” she said in a statement, here.
Liew said Tam’s death was related to old age and involved multiple organ failures.
It was reported that Tam’s appetite and alertness had declined significantly since the end of last month.
Urine analysis tests indicated that Tam was suffering from organ damage and poor kidney function.
It spent most of its time lying down, having received round-the-clock attention and medication from keepers as well as veterinarians.
In Aug 2010, a wildlife team captured the male rhinoceros at the Kretam oil palm plantation in Tawau.
At the time of its capture, the rhinocerous was thought to be in its mid-20s. Tam was taken to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve where it had lived ever since.
Liew said Tam’s living genome was now preserved in cell culture.
“We hope that with emerging technologies at cell and molecular levels, he may be able to contribute his genes to ensure the survival of the species,” she added.
With Tam’s death, Malaysia is now left with one female Sumatran rhinoceros, Iman. She was captured in 2014.
In 2017, another female rhinoceros Puntung was euthanised because she was suffering from a painful and incurable cancer.
Iman appears to be the last Sumatran rhinoceros that was found in the wild. Since her rescue, no other Sumatran rhinoceros has been detected in Sabah, indicating that the species may have become extinct.
The Star Online, 20 May 2019
KOTA KINABALU: The health of Malaysia’s last surviving male Sumatran rhino is fast fading.
Struggle to heal: Tam being cared for by his caretakers at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said serious concerns were growing over the health of the rhino named Tam, whose appetite and alertness had declined abruptly since late April this year.
“It is now well into old age for a Sumatran rhino,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“It is receiving round-the-clock attention and medication. Tests are ongoing but it seems that one or more of its internal organs are not functioning well,” added Tuuga.
After a week of being fed and befriended by the department staff, local non-governmental organisation SOS Rhino (now known as the Borneo Rhino Alliance) and WWF-Malaysia, Tam was coaxed into a crate, and brought to facilities in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, where he has lived ever since.
Tuuga said Tam had always been a favourite of the people who worked with it or visited it due to its calm and steady manner.
However, hopes to find a mate for Tam were dashed when female rhino Puntung, captured in 2011, was found to have multiple cysts throughout its uterus, and Iman, captured in 2014, was found to have massive uterine fibroids.
These illnesses are a reflection of too few rhinos and insufficient breeding success during the last decades of the 20th century.
Puntung was euthanised in 2017 because of painful and incurable cancer.
Since 2011, all efforts in Malaysia to save the species from extinction have focused on the application of advanced reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilisation attempts as well as collaborating with Indonesia.
To date, neither have met with success.
Rhinos have not been seen in Sabah’s jungles for over a decade.
Read the full article here
Though big in size, rhinos are succumbing to pressures inflicted by a much smaller creature – man.
Story by TAN CHENG LI
HE was Sabah’s last hope to boost the dwindling numbers of Sumatran rhinos. But in a tragic event, Tanjung, the only remaining captive male rhino in the state, was killed last August by a falling tree branch. A storm the previous day had inflicted much damage to the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok, Sandakan, where the breeding centre is located.
With the death of 15-year-old Tanjung, only the 25-year-old female Gelugob remains. The captive breeding programme in Sabah appears doomed, much like the one at Sungai Dusun, Selangor, which ended abruptly in late 2003 when its whole population of five rhinos was wiped out over a span of 18 days. The cause of death remains disputed between bacterial and parasitic infections.
What will happen to the Sepilok breeding centre and Gelugob is uncertain. Until press time, Sabah Wildlife Department could not be reached for clarification. But trapping another wild male to restock the centre is unlikely to get much public or even scientific support, going by the poor track record of rhinos in captivity.
Desperate situation: Sumatran rhinos are shy and reclusive animals.
Captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos has seen little success globally, triggering doubts over the viability of the expensive endeavour.
In the 1980s, some 40 rhinos were trapped from threatened sites in Malaysia and Sumatra, and sent to zoos worldwide to breed but only two calves have been captive-born so far, both at Cincinnati Zoo in the United States. Many of the captive rhinos did not fare well and eventually succumbed to disease and illness.
At Sepilok, the rhinos mated and Gelugob conceived once but aborted after three months.
If the Sepilok breeding programme is continued, Dr Nan Schaffer, an expert in the physiology of rhino reproduction, says the facility, now in disrepair, will need to be enlarged and improved upon.
“It will take several millions to develop the facility to meet standards and bring in expertise as the animals require constant care and monitoring,” says the Chicago-based veterinarian who has worked on rhino breeding in Sabah on numerous occasions since 1990. The conservation group which she founded, SOS Rhino, has been assisting in Sepilok by assessing the health and reproductive integrity of the rhinos, guiding management and husbandry, and conducting research.
Protect in the wild
Dr Nan Schaffer: ‘The status of the animal is critical. To save the species, you need to engage everyone.
With uncertainties shrouding the breeding programme, SOS Rhino programme officer Dr M.S. Thayaparan says efforts now centre on protecting wild rhinos, particularly since the discovery of two juvenile rhino footprints at Tabin Wildlife Reserve meant that they are reproducing.
“If we can better protect their natural environment, they can continue breeding naturally and that would be the best thing.”
Critically endangered, Sumatran rhinos desperately need help. Their future is bleak for their habitat has dwindled, they are shot for their horns and increasing isolation hinders their breeding. Some 300 are all that remain of the species in the only two places where they occur, Sumatra and Malaysia.
The species’ situation in Malaysia is especially desperate – the peninsula has only 70 rhinos left and Sabah, 30 to 40. Schaffer says the rhino in Sabah is even more endangered as it is a subspecies, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni, that is found nowhere else since populations in Sarawak and Kalimantan have been wiped out.
For Schaffer, directing conservation efforts on rhinos make sense since they are a “flagship species” – protect them and you will protect other species in the animal kingdom as well.
SOS Rhino’s work in Sabah, funded mainly by foreign zoos and conservation groups, includes five rhino patrol units with rangers to guard the 48,000ha Tabin reserve against poachers and gather data on rhino numbers, food sources and threats.
While SOS Rhino covers Tabin, the other group championing for rhino preservation in Sabah, WWF, focuses on the Danum Valley Conservation Area. Both sites are Sabah’s last rhino strongholds.
Risks persist
The rhinos in Danum Valley, meanwhile, are in a precarious state. The reserve is enveloped by the logging compartments of Malua and Ulu Segama forests and rhinos have been found to inhabit both the protected area and those earmarked for logging.
“Our surveys show Malua and Ulu Segama to be key rhino habitats,” says WWF project manager Raymond Alfred. “Logging, even if using reduced impact techniques, should not be allowed as it can destroy salt licks and mud volcanoes which wildlife such as pigs, rhinos and elephants depend upon for certain minerals.”
He says a new logging road just 1.5km north of Danum Valley raises encroachment risks. Furthermore, boundaries are demarcated only on maps and not in the forest, so hunters issued with permits for Ulu Segama can claim ignorance after entering the reserve.
Under the RM5mil Honda-funded Rhino Rescue project, WWF has formed three rhino patrol units with 12 rangers each to guard and survey Danum Valley and the adjacent forest.
Surveys also show isolated rhino groups in pockets of forests too small to sustain the animals. To safeguard one of these scattered groups, Alfred says the state government will gazette a patch of stateland into a “forest corridor” to link the fragmented forest to Tabin.
A similar plan for another isolated rhino group outside Kulamba wildlife reserve, however, will require more talks as the proposed corridor sits on privately owned plantations.
WWF is embarking on a similar rhino conservation project in Belum forest reserve, Perak, which harbours some 10 rhinos. The five-year Honda-funded project will also see the formation of rhino patrol units to check on poachers and conduct rhino surveys.
A community programme initiated by SOS Rhino in Tabin, meanwhile, employs locals for the conservation project, encourages them to start tourism activities, fund students in wildlife conservation studies, and ropes in plantation owners to monitor encroachers, especially on land bordering the reserve.
“Our goal now is to get all stakeholders to step up and be involved,” says Schaffer.
“The status of the animal is critical. To save the species, you need to engage everyone … plantation operators, land owners, businesses, politicians, communities and scientists.
The Star, February 6, 2007
Story by TAN CHENG LI
CAPTIVE breeding of Sumatran rhinos holds much promise but has so far turned out to be a costly exercise with many false starts. The rhino enclosure at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary – attempts at getting captive rhinos to mate and reproduce in the 90s met with little success.
Because of their rarity, elusive nature and the harsh terrain of their habitat, little is known about the species’ biology, habitat needs and reproductive behaviour. This has stymied breeding efforts.
“Their reproduction and physiology differ from other species, which explains the low reproductive success. We had to go back to the drawing board and build up from the ground,” says Dr Nan Schaffer, who has worked with all five rhino species in the past 25 years.
In the early years of the captive breeding programme, many rhinos in American zoos died and only later did scientists learn that the animals survive on a wide variety of leaves, fruits and minerals found in natural salt licks. Of the seven Sumatran rhinos sent to the United States in the 1980s, only two are still alive.
Schaffer says scientists also discovered later on that rhinos seek shaded habitats and are almost never in the harsh sun.
The Sungai Dusun centre in Selangor, as it turned out, was not exactly a conducive breeding spot because trees were felled during the construction. The rhinos’ paddocks were also too small. Being solitary animals, Sumatran rhinos need large enclosures, unlike Indian rhinos which can be herded together.
Newer breeding facilities, such as the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra, are better designed. The sanctuary sprawls over 100ha and each of the four rhinos there has a 10ha forested enclosure.
Over the years, breeders have employed various techniques, including those used to boost human fertility, to get caged rhinos to reproduce.
Shaffer was instrumental in the success of artificial insemination in the white rhinoceros and the birth of Andalas, the world’s first captive-born rhino.
After repeated failed pregnancies in the female adult rhino, Cincinnati Zoo staff sought Schaffer’s help. She advised them to use progesterone to help bring the pregnancy to term. It worked, resulting in the birth of Andalas in 2001.
Shaffer also developed a technique to extract sperm from male rhinos consistently, for artificial insemination.
The trick, she reveals, is to use an electrical probe to stimulate the rectum and spine, which then causes the rhino to ejaculate. “Yes, there is nothing romantic about it,” she quips.
Another hurdle in rhino breeding is that the animals will attack each other and must be kept apart except when the female is in oestrus and ready to mate. So keepers must monitor the animal’s behaviour and fertile periods to determine the right time to put them in the same enclosure for mating.
“It took us 20 years to understand all this. It was very frustrating as we had to learn and perfect many techniques,” says Schaffer.
“Breeding centres the world over contributed to the body of knowledge on keeping rhinos in captivity. Each facility developed a piece of the puzzle and it all came together in Cincinnati Zoo.
“Sepilok was the first place to successfully bring the animals together without them attacking each other. Without this knowledge, the Cincinnati Zoo births would not have happened.”
Cincinnati Zoo is the sole success story in rhino captive breeding. Andalas got a sister in 2004 and his mother Emi is expecting another male calf in April.
Why has the success of Cincinnati Zoo not been replicated? “Successful breeding depends on investment, expertise and motivation,” says Schaffer. “Cincinnati Zoo has a team of dedicated staff and a body of expertise (such as a reproductive expert and vet) not seen in any other breeding centres, and it was prepared to put in huge investments.”
Rhino scientists believe they have more or less perfected rhino breeding techniques but the problem now is this: only a few captive animals remain and most are old or have various ailments linked with long-term confinement. Many captive female rhinos have tumour growths in their reproductive tracts which interfere with pregnancies. Lack of breeding activity is believed to be the cause.
If captive breeding is to continue, healthy animals are needed.
After the deaths of the Sungai Dusun rhinos in 2003, there was a proposal to trap a female rhino from Peninsular Malaysia and send it to Cincinnati Zoo for breeding but the Department of Wildlife and National Parks withdrew its initial agreement on the project.
Now, hopes for another captive breeding success is pinned on the healthy and young stud Andalas. In mid-February, he will leave his home at Los Angeles Zoo for Way Kambas, to start his own family. It is a risky move – the journey to Sumatra will be a long and stressful, and for the first time, Andalas will be exposed to the wild tropical rainforest and with it, potentially dangerous foreign parasites.
But then again, it is a risk that has to be taken for back in LA Zoo, Andalas will never ever have a mate. At least in Sumatra, there is still a chance for him to help save his own kind.
Rhino horn nothing more than keratin, calcium, and melanin confirms research: Scientists Crack Rhino Horn Riddle
By Lisa Forster, Ohio University Press Release, November 6, 2006
Rhinoceros horns have long been objects of mythological beliefs. Some cultures prize them for their supposed magical or medicinal qualities. Others have used them as dagger handles or good luck charms. But new research at Ohio University removes some of the mystique by explaining how the horn gets its distinctive curve and sharply pointed tip.
Scientists have discovered new details about the structural materials that form the horn and the role those materials play in the development of the horn’s characteristic shape.
The horns of most animals have a bony core covered by a thin sheath of keratin, the same substance as hair and nails. Rhino horns are unique, however, because they are composed entirely of keratin. Scientists had been puzzled by the difference, but the Ohio University study now has revealed an interesting clue: dark patches running through the center of the horns.
The team examined the heads of rhinos that died of natural causes and were donated by The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio, and the Phoenix Zoo. Researchers conducted CT scans on the horns at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens and found dense mineral deposits made of calcium and melanin in the middle.
The calcium deposits make the horn core harder and stronger, and the melanin protects the core from breakdown by the sun’s UV rays, the scientists report. The softer outer portion of the horn weakens with sun exposure and is worn into its distinctive shape through horn clashing and by being rubbed on the ground and vegetation. The structure of the rhino horns is similar to a pencil’s tough lead core and weaker wood periphery, which allows the horns to be honed to a sharp point.
The study also ends speculation that the horn was simply a clump of modified hair.
“The horns most closely resemble the structure of horses’ hoofs, turtle beaks and cockatoo bills. This might be related to the strength of these materials, although more research is needed in this area,” said Tobin Hieronymus, a doctoral student in biological sciences and lead author on the study.
The study also found that the melanin and calcium patches appear in yearly growth surges but the effects of temperature, diet and stress on the growth are still unknown. The results of the horn growth study may be of interest to conservation groups whose goal is to strengthen rhino populations and reduce the poaching of horn for the black market.
“Ultimately, we think our findings will help dispel some of the folk wisdom attached to the horn. The more we can learn about the horn, the better we can understand and manage rhino populations in the wild and in captivity,” said Lawrence Witmer, a professor of anatomy in Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and director of the project.
The Journal of Morphology published the research findings in its October issue. Witmer and Ryan Ridgely were co-authors of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted with the assistance of O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio, and The Wilds, an Ohio animal preserve.
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, March 20, 2006 (ENS) – Poaching has reduced Malaysia’s population of Sumatran rhinos to just a small group plus a few individuals clinging to survival in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, according to an extensive field study conducted in 2005.
Teams from nine government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions were able to find just 13 animals in the state of Sabah.
The survey of Sabah’s rhinos involved about 120 people in 16 teams. It was conducted by the Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Parks, the Sabah Foundation, WWF-Malaysia, the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project, SOS Rhino, University Malaysia Sabah, and Operation Raleigh.
A few individuals still survive in other parts of Sabah that were not covered by the study, the researchers said. Rhinos on the Indonesian side of Borneo and in the Malaysian state of Sarawak are believed to be extinct.
Today, Sumatran rhinos are found only in widely scattered areas across Borneo, peninsular Malaysia, and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
The smallest of the five rhino species, Sumatran rhinos are about at 4.5 feet tall and weigh about one ton. It is the only Asian rhino species with two horns. There are believed to be fewer than 300 Sumatran rhinos left in the world and they are considered one of the most endangered rhino species because of the intensity of poaching.
Rhino horn carries a high price on the black market, where it is sold for use in traditional Asian medicines.
Previous estimates of rhino numbers had suggested there were 30 to 70 rhinos on the island of Borneo, all in Sabah.
“Poaching has decimated Borneo’s once-healthy rhino population, but we were heartened to find that a few individuals have managed to cling to survival,” said Raymond Alfred, of WWF-Malaysia. “Conservationists and Sabah government agencies are working hard to ensure this small population is protected and can grow.”
To conserve the few animals that remain in Sabah, WWF and Malaysian authorities have launched rhino protection units to patrol the area where the 13 rhinos were found.
Because poaching is such a threat to this species, the survey results were not released until strong protection measures could be put in place in the areas where the rhinos are found. Those security measures were recently installed.
In February, WWF-Malaysia and partners launched a five year project called Rhino Rescue, which will organize rhino protection units and other activities to deter poaching.
Partners with WWF-Malaysia in this effort to protect Borneo’s remaining rhinos are the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Sabah Foundation, S.O.S Rhino and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Untouched forest the state of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo (Photo courtesy University Malaysia Sabah) “The results from the survey of Borneo’s rhinos are crucial additions to our scientific understanding of the species,” said Dr. Christy Williams, of WWF’s Asian rhino program. “We believe this population may be viable and could recover if their habitat is protected and the threat of poaching is eliminated.”
WWF aims to assist Borneo’s three nations – Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia – to conserve the Heart of Borneo – a total of 220,000 square kilometers of equatorial rainforest – through a network of protected areas and sustainably managed forest, and through international co-operation led by the Bornean governments and supported by a global effort.
Sabah and the forests of the Heart of Borneo still hold vast stretches of continuous natural forests, which are some of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth, with high numbers of unique animal and plant species.
This is one of the world’s only two places where orangutans, elephants and rhinos still co-exist and where forests are still large enough to maintain viable populations. The other place is Indonesia’s Sumatra island.
The species of rhino in Borneo, commonly called the Sumatran rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, is considered to be a separate subspecies, D.s. harrissoni, from the other Sumatran rhinos.
The rhinos feed on the leaves of a wide variety of seedlings and young trees. Unlike other rhino species and other large herbivorous mammals in Borneo such as elephant, wild cattle, and deer, the Sumatran rhino is a strict forest dweller that ventures out of forest cover only inunusual situations.
Other threatened wildlife in Borneo includes clouded leopards, sun bears, and three species of leaf monkeys found nowhere else on Earth.
Historic Press Release from Sabah Wildlife Department
Kota Kinabalu, 23rd August, 2008: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) successfully completed a two week long rescue operation of a single male from the critically endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) subspecies.
The Sumatran Rhinoceros, recognised as being on the brink of extinction, was found wandering at an oil palm plantation neighbouring the forest on the East Coast of Sabah on the 5th of August.
“It was obvious that the rhino was injured to some degree as it left its forest which had difficult terrain to come out on the flat terrain of the oil palm plantation,” explained Dr. Senthilvel Nathan, Chief Field Veterinarian of the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD).
Senthilvel led the rescue operation to translocate the rhino safely out of the palm oil plantation and settle it in the rhino paddock at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve (TWR) located east of Lahad Datu.
“It was a delicate operation as we had to make sure that the rhino was not stressed by having human’s so close to it. When we first got there, the rhino showed signs of aggression and made mock chargers at us but we kept our distance and left leaves and fruits for it to eat as the oil palm environment is not suitable for wildlife,” explained Senthilvel.
For 10 days, a team of SWD Ranger’s and veterinarians stayed close to rhino at the plantation to habituate their presence to it before getting close enough to check on its condition and to prepare it for its translocation.
“We had to make sure it was getting enough water and food and was healthy because moving wildlife can be very stressful for them,” said Senthivel.
Also on the ground providing support was Sabah based Non Government Organisation (NGO) SOS Rhino Borneo and international NGO WWF-Malaysia.
WWF-Malaysia believes that the rescued rhino is also the same rhino that was captured on their camera and video trap in February of 2007 as part of their rhino tracking efforts in the same area.
Working together, the group of 24 undertook the task to monitor the rhino for 24 hours a day and the delicate operation to move the rhino from the plantation to its new home.
“The morning we moved the rhino, myself and Veterinarian Dr. Roza Sipagkui made an assessment to see if he was healthy enough for the four hour journey by road and barge to Tabin,” said Senthivel.
Remarkably their was no need to sedate the rhino as he was easily coaxed into the crate with fresh leaves and fruit.
“After a few attempts to coax the rhino into the crate, it finally walked in effortlessly and without the need for any type of sedation,” according to Senthivel.
Roza rode in the back of the truck with the rhino in the crate for the journey monitoring the rhino closely for any signs of stress and aggression.
“We had sedatives on standby the entire time but as the rhino remained remarkably calm we did not use it all which was also good for the rhino,” explained Senthivel.
According to SWD Director, the rhino has been translocated to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve as it has been designated as the new Bornean Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.
“The rescue of this adult male rhino in his prime is timely as the Department is addressing the rhino population issue by launching a semi-captive rhino breeding programme based in Tabin,” shared SWD Director, Laurentius Ambu.
The decision to carry out a rhino breeding programme in semi-captivity was made by the State Rhino Task Force (SRTF) which was formed following the Fourth Sumatran Rhino Conservation Workshop held in July last year.
“At that Workshop, Datuk Masidi Manjun made a firm commitment of the State Government to address the issue of the rapidly dwindling number of rhino and this Task Force was established due to his commitment in saving the rhinos,” said Laurentius.
Datuk Masidi Manjun, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment had stated that, every possible action gear toward the preservation of the rhinoceros and propagation of their population had to be taken.
To ensure the survival of the species, Masidi said people need to be educated to look at the rhinoceros as a national treasure.
“It is an uphill battle. But I hope everyone including scientists and NGOs will come together and work for the conservation of the rhinos which we all should consider our natural heritage,” said Masidi, adding that that the cooperation of plantation owners and the hunters was also imperative.
Laurentius also commended the quick action of the Unico Estate General Manager, Chew Beng Hock and Temenggong Estate Manager, Gucharan Singh for immediately informing and assisting the Department in transporting the rhino.
“The fact that the rhino was not harmed and that the Department was informed immediately tells us two things. First, that people are aware that the rhino is a totally protected species and that if anyone had harmed him, it would be a mandatory jail time for them and secondly they recognise how it is a really unique and special animal that needs to be saved,” said Laurentius.
“We must do everything we possible can to save the remaining population from the brink of extinction. The Rhino Task Force is working in collaboration with worldwide rhino experts to carry out this semi-captive breeding programme,” explained Laurentius who’s Department chairs the Task Force with member being from the Sabah Forestry Department and NGOs, SOS Rhino Borneo and WWF-Malaysia.
The State Government is currently working to raise the estimated RM20 million needed to set-up the fully fenced and protected area which could be up to 1000 hectares in size.
“It is a huge undertaking financially, but we must do this because this is most likely our last chance to save this Sumatran Rhino sub-species which is only found here from going extinct,” said Laurentius.
It is estimated that only 30 individuals of this Sumatran Rhino sub-species remain in the wildlife in Sabah.
Three of Malaysia’s endangered large mammal species are experiencing contrasting futures.
Populations of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) have dwindled to critically low numbers in Peninsular Malaysia (current estimates need to be revised) and the state of Sabah (less than 40 individuals estimated). In the latter region, a bold intervention involving the translocation of isolated rhinos is being developed to concentrate them into a protected area to improve reproduction success rates.
For the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), recently established baselines for Peninsular Malaysia (0.09 elephants/km2 estimated from one site) and Sabah (between 0.56 and 2.15 elephants/km2 estimated from four sites) seem to indicate globally significant populations based on dung count surveys. Similar surveys are required to monitor elephant population trends at these sites and to determine baselines elsewhere.
The population status of the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) in Peninsular Malaysia, however, remains uncertain as only a couple of scientifically defensible camera-trapping surveys (1.66 and 2.59 tigers/100 km2 estimated from two sites) have been conducted to date. As conservation resources are limited, it may be prudent to focus tiger monitoring and protection efforts in priority areas identified by the National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia. Apart from reviewing the conservation status of rhinos, elephants and tigers and threats facing them, we highlight existing and novel conservation initiatives, policies and frameworks that can help secure the long-term future of these iconic species in Malaysia.
The above is an ABSTRACT of an article published online in the scientific journal Biodiversity Conservation on January 23 2010.
The authors of this orginal paper are as follows: Reuben Clements • Darmaraj Mark Rayan • Abdul Wahab Ahmad Zafir • Arun Venkataraman • Raymond Alfred • Junaidi Payne • Laurentius Ambu • Dionysius Shankar Kumar Sharma.
Iman is the last wild Sumatran rhino to have been found in Malaysia. She was captured in Danum Valley and safely transported to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in March 2014. This half-tonne female suffers from severe fibroids in her uterus but she retains her oestrus cycle and has so far supplied ten eggs towards the first experimental attempts at in-vitro fertilization in efforts to save her species. Despite her poor health, she is the noisiest and most excitable of the three rhinos in BORA’s care.
Credit: AP PHOTO
Tam at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, 2016 BORA Filepic
Iman, Malaysia’s last female Sumatran rhino. Photo: Borneo Rhino Alliance
Struggle to heal: Tam being cared for by his caretakers at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah
Desperate situation: Sumatran rhinos are shy and reclusive animals.
“Our goal now is to get all stakeholders to step up and be involved,” says Schaffer.
The rhino enclosure at the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary – attempts at getting captive rhinos to mate and reproduce in the 90s met with little success.
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia, March 20, 2006 (ENS) – Poaching has reduced Malaysia’s population of Sumatran rhinos to just a small group plus a few individuals clinging to survival in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, according to an extensive field study conducted in 2005.
For 10 days, a team of SWD Ranger’s and veterinarians stayed close to rhino at the plantation to habituate their presence to it before getting close enough to check on its condition and to prepare it for its translocation.