Attempts to breed these three rhinos naturally have proven unsuccessful. Tam’s sperm quality is not ideal. Although Puntung and Iman are still producing eggs, they both have reproductive pathologies that have rendered them unable to bear a foetus. The only way the species can be saved in Malaysia is through advanced reproductive technology (ART) – using methods such as in-vitro fertilization to create a Sumatran rhino embryo in a laboratory before implanting it in a viable surrogate mother.
This scientific method has proven successful for humans and livestock, but it has never been attempted on the Sumatran Rhino before. BORA have teamed up with renowned international reproductive scientists to work towards a breakthrough before it’s too late.
This experimental process is costly and laborious. As of June 2016, BORA’s funds have run out. If we cannot secure further funding needed to continue ART, our efforts will come to an end and the species will become extinct in Malaysia. BORA and three rhinos need your help. Click here to find out how you can help support this cause.
In the in vitro laboratory at Agro-biotechnology Institute (ABI) Malaysia, (left to right) Prof. Abdul Wahid Haron (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia), Mr Loo Shu San (ABI), Dr Zainal Z Zainuddin (BORA veterinarian), Prof. Arief Boediono (Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia)
Puntung was captured in 2011 and kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino. — Picture via Borneo Rhino Sanctuary
KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — Malaysia is now left with only two Sumatran rhinoceroses after the third, named Puntung, was euthanised early this morning to end her suffering from skin cancer.
Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga said the decision to put the 25-year-old female rhinoceros to permanent sleep was brought forward from June 15 as the cancer caused her severe breathing problems as well as bleeding from her nostril.
“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties.
“In consultation with our rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, and others, the decision was taken to end her growing discomfort, and bring forward the planned date of the procedure,” he said in a statement today.
A Thai veterinary team had successfully extracted two molars and one premolar from Puntung’s left upper jaw during a two-hour-and-twenty minute surgery on April 19, 2017 . — Picture by Julia Chan
In her last week, she was accompanied day and night by her keepers in her forest paddock.
She was euthanised at 4am.
Tuuga also said that Puntung’s ovaries and reproductive cells have been harvested to ensure the continuity of the critically endangered species.
“Tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures,” he added.
Puntung was first captured in the wild in 2011 and kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu, with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino named Tam.
The sanctuary, managed by the non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance contracted by the SWD, had previously planned to mate Puntung with Tam in a managed facility until it discovered cysts in her uterus that made her unable to bear a pregnancy.
Puntunf had suffered from an abscess in her cheek that would not heal despite treatment since mid-March and underwent an operation to remove two molars and one premolar in her upper left jaw last month in an attempt to heal the abscess
Malaysia no longer has any wild rhinoceroses. The remainder of the critically endangered species, numbering in the tens, is in neighbouring Indonesia.
IZW experts Professor Thomas Hildebrandt and Dr Robert Hermes extract eggs from Iman, assisted here by BORA staff Hassan Sani.
The 4 July 2018 announcement by Professor Thomas Hildebrandt of Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and his co-workers that embryos of white rhinos have been successfully made in vitro represents one of the most exciting breakthroughs in years for rhino conservation. We at BORA, the Borneo Rhino Alliance, are ecstatic at this development, as it represents a new dawn for not just white rhinos, but also for another, even more endangered species – the Sumatran rhino. While there are only two females of the northern white rhino subspecies left, the white rhino species stands at close to 20,000 individuals. But there are fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the world. Even this may be an optimistic estimate with some reports claiming only 30 are left in the wild.
Unlike the African and Indian rhino species, Sumatran rhino numbers have drastically plummeted not primarily by poaching. Instead, since the 1930s, the four-part threat was, and still is –
1) Not enough Sumatran rhinos in any one place to form a breeding population 2) Few or no mates in any one location, so very little to no mating 3) Inbreeding due to isolation over several generations
4) Reproductive tract pathology and infertility due to the above three syndromes
As a result, for many decades, there have not been enough Sumatran rhino births to sustain the species, whether or not poaching can be prevented. Natural breeding was seen as the solitary key solution but in the past five years, there has only been one birth in captivity, while there have been three deaths. In the absence of concerted efforts to maximize all available avenues of increasing the number of Sumatran rhino births, the oldest and smallest of all rhino species has been on a one-way fast track to extinction.
File image of Puntung, a female rhino rescued by BORA vet Dr Zainal Zainuddin. Photo by C C Azrie Alliamat
There is only one clear way now to save the species – all the last remaining Sumatran rhinos have to be brought into a single managed breeding programme, where two complementary approaches are taken: allowing the fertile ones to breed naturally, and supporting the infertile ones to allow their limited eggs and sperm to create embryos in vitro.
BORA has been desperately working for the past decade to try to breed new generations of Sumatran rhinos. But we faced incredible obstacles in the form of not enough rhinos left in Malaysia and the rhinos’ reproductive tract pathology and infertility. With the help of Professor Hildebrandt (IZW, Germany), Professor Cesare Galli (AVANTEA, Italy) and Professor Arief Boediono (IPB, Indonesia) and their colleagues, we have tried to create a Sumatran rhino embryo in vitro. It was a process that had been derided by many of our counterparts as being fantasy and foolish thinking.
But now with this success for the white rhino, the issue for the Sumatran rhino is no longer about “can in vitro fertilization be done?” but “why are we not prioritizing such work for Sumatran rhinos?”.
Only a few tens of Sumatran rhinos remain alive in Indonesia, and only two, a female and a male in Malaysia. Professor Hildebrandt and his co-workers have been aiming for in vitro production of Sumatran rhino embryos since 2011, when there were three females and the male alive in well-managed facilities in the Malaysian State of Sabah and five managed in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia. But the advanced reproductive technology group has never managed to gain interest from some of the most prominent institutions that need to collaborate or provide support to generate a single recovery programme.
The government of Malaysia, Sime Darby Foundation, and numerous interested individual donors from around the world have provided critical financial support for attempts to apply advanced reproductive technology to Sumatran rhinos, but the shocking lack of interest outside Malaysia has stymied the much-needed species recovery programme. The amount of funding going to advanced reproductive technology on Sumatran rhinos simply has been not sufficient enough to allow the scientific process to catch up to the sort of work done on the northern white rhino. The funds from international donors, which currently include a generous donation from government of USA, have gone to camera trapping, surveys, anti-poaching patrols and meetings in Indonesia and USA. This approach fails to recognize that the greatest threat doesn’t come from outside the Sumatran rhino population. It comes from within. Too few Sumatran rhinos, that are scattered and not breeding. All these efforts are akin to putting a band aid over a tumor.
For years, we’ve been trying to engage and work with prominent institutions that are able to influence or lead the charge to save the Sumatran rhino but we’ve been forced to refrain from taking them to task.
But today, we make our stand. The science of advanced reproductive technology is now beginning to deliver, and all of us must embrace it as we do everything in our power to save the most endangered of rhino species by increasing the number of births. We call on the Government of Indonesia, the International Rhino Foundation and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, to recognize the incredible and critical opportunity we have in front of us. Create a programme that prioritises Sumatran rhino births, through both natural breeding of fertile rhinos and in vitro fertilization for those that need such help. The alternative is to choose certain extinction.
Dr John Payne,
Executive Director of Borneo Rhino Alliance
View featured gallery highlighting IVF efforts to save the Sumatran rhino
A Sumatran rhino wallows in a mud bath at Tabin Wildlife Reserve
The phrase “doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result” applies egregiously to the Sumatran rhinoceros. It is clear that protecting wild populations has failed, and that natural breeding in captivity results in too few births to be a viable strategy.
Over the past thirty years, very many more Sumatran rhinos have died than have been born, both in the wild and equally so in captivity. There are two possible solutions. One is to accept that saving this species is now too difficult and expensive, and to abandon it to extinction. The other is to focus entirely on production of Sumatran rhino embryos in the laboratory. This can be done by intracellular sperm injection into oocytes, where one sperm is inserted into an oocyte (thereby saving the millions of sperm that are always wasted during classical artificial insemination), and the resulting embryo implanted into a female rhino. There are at least two male Sumatran rhinos in captivity that are known sperm producers (Tam in Tabin, and Andalas in Way Kambas). Indonesia has three fertile females Sumatran rhinos in managed facilities at Way Kambas, none of which are producing babies by natural breeding. All captive females, including Puntung and Iman in Tabin, can be treated with hormones to boost and regularize oocyte production.
In theory, several hundreds of Sumatran rhino oocytes could be produced annually from captive females. Any extra embryos that might be produced can either be frozen for future maturation, or attempts could be made to implant them into zoo rhinos of different species.
We need to pose several pressing questions: why are we not doing this now? Why are we wasting time counting wild rhinos and not making any clear decisions? Why are the rhino experts not advocating for this? Why are the big international conservation organizations not explicitly supporting this idea?
Wildlife experts here bade a sad farewell to Puntung, one of Malaysia’s three remaining Sumatra rhinos, who was put down after a brief battle against cancer.
Sabah Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga said the euthanasia procedure was performed at between 7am and 8am at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.
In a statement, he said the 25-year-old female rhino was placed under close observation prior to her death.
“Her keepers, Wilson Kuntil, Hassan Sani and Samad Gubin had been sleeping for the past week with Puntung in her forest paddock.
“They were very attuned to subtle changes in her behaviour and reported periodic bleeding from the nostrils.
“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties,” he said.
After consulting rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin and others, Tuuga said, the decision was made to end Puntung’s agony and bring forward the date of the procedure.
“Previously, we were planning to do it on June 15. In pursuit of the aim to allow Puntung to contribute to the survival of her species, her ovaries were rushed to the Agro-Biotechnology Institute in Serdang,” he added.
Tuuga also said Indonesian reproductive specialist Prof Arief Boediono was ready to recover any egg cells that may be present.
“If any oocytes can be retrieved and matured, frozen sperm from the male rhino Tam will be thawed for intracytoplasmic sperm injection by Prof Arief. We will know the outcome within a few days.
“In addition, tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures,” added Tuuga.
Puntung was recently diagnosed with the deadly squamous cell skin cancer, which spread rapidly after she underwent an operation in April to extract two molars and a premolar from the upper left side of her jaw.
Tuuga had said two subsequent biopsies after Puntung’s successful surgery revealed squamous cell carcinoma.
Specialists from various countries had agreed that the cancer would be fatal, with or without treatment.
The remaining female rhino Iman, and male rhino Kertam, are being cared for by non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance, at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.
Puntung was captured in 2011. It was later established that she was the last remaining wild rhino in the reserve.
In the hierarchy of biological classification of living and fossil organisms, two levels are well known : species and family. For example, humans are the species Homo sapiens, and they come under the family Hominidae, which includes orang-utans, gorillas and chimpanzees, as well as many extinct apes known only from fossils. Between species and family is a level called genus. Homo, for example, is the genus that refers to humans.
The last genus of rhinoceros to go extinct was Coelodonta, the woolly rhinoceros, about 10,000 years ago. The only mammal genera that went extinct between 1000 and 1900 AD were Megaladapis and Palaeopropithecus (giant lemurs on Madagascar) between 1200 and 1500 AD, and Hydrodamalis (Steller’s sea cow in the north Pacific) by 1768. Since the existence of modern, human nation states, only one mammal genus has gone extinct: Thylacinus, the thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial that died out in Australia in 1936. A close contender now is Lipotes (Chinese river dolphin), which is probably extinct.
After Australia and China, Indonesia will be the nation to oversee the next genus that will go extinct: Dicerorhinus, commonly known as Sumatran rhinoceros. A few tens still exist, but overall birth rate of this genus has been lower than death rate at least since the 1940s. Extinction is assured in the absence of a programme to boost births.
Habitat loss and hunting are NOT the reason that this genus is now critically endangered. To repeat, the reason is: not enough births. Leaving Sumatran rhinos in the wild will just allow them to die without contributing to saving the genus. The way forward is for Indonesia to urgently start a programme to boost birth rate through both captive natural breeding and advanced reproductive technology. Malaysia has made a start on the latter approach, in collaboration with German, Italian and Indonesian experts and has offered to assist Indonesia. The future of the Sumatran Rhino now depends closely on what Indonesia chooses to do – JPayne.
Abdul Hamid Ahmad, Junaidi Payne and Zainal Zaharu Zainuddin have had a joint article published in the Debate Forum section of the Journal of Indonesian Natural History Vol 1(2): 11-22. Read the full article
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has lost Puntung, the Sumatran Rhino who touched the hearts of many.
Sabah Wildlife Department Director Augustine Tuuga said Puntung was euthanised this morning at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
A week ago, Augustine broke the news that Puntung could no longer breathe through her left nostril and was no longer able to vocalise, was in pain and her condition was declining fast due to squamous cell cancer.
Puntung had been suffering since mid-March from an abscess inside her upper jaw that would not heal despite treatment.
Initially captured on Dec 18, 2011, the rhino attracted global attention in April 2017 through dental surgery performed by a multi-national team in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
She was one of the last three Sumatran rhinos in the country; now, they are only two left.
Augustine in a statement issued to the media said that Puntung’s keepers Wilson Kuntil, Hassan Sani and Samad Gubin had been sleeping for the past week with Puntung in her forest paddock, to ensure that she was under 24-hour observation.
They were very attuned to subtle changes in her behaviour and reported periodic bleeding from the nostrils, he said.
“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties. In consultation with our rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, and others, the decision was taken to end her growing discomfort, and bring forward the planned date of the procedure.
“Previously, we planned to euthanise her on June 15. In pursuit of the aim to allow Puntung to contribute to the survival of her species, her ovaries were rushed to the Agro-Biotechnology Institute, Serdang,” added Augustine.
Simultaneously, Indonesian reproductive specialist Professor Arief Boediono was flown in from Jakarta, ready to recover any egg cells that might be present.
“If any oocytes can be retrieved and matured, frozen sperm from the male rhino Tam
will be thawed for intracytoplasmic sperm injection by Professor Arief. We will know the outcome within a few days,” Augustine said.
In addition, tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures.
Other keepers who have attended to Puntung in recent months are Rasaman Jaya, Marikus Suyat, Justine Sagunting, Joseph Stimon, Ronald Jummy, Davidson Kuntil and Alvin Erut, with Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin in charge.
Read the full article online
By Christina Nunez, National Geographic, June 4, 2017
A Sumatran rhino that symbolized the power of social media to potentially save wildlife was euthanized Sunday in Malaysia. Puntung, a 20-year-old female, succumbed to cancer. She was one of three remaining Sumatran rhinos in the country.
“Today is one of the saddest days we’ve ever faced. As of this morning, Puntung’s suffering has come to an end,” said a Facebook post from the group Borneo Rhino Alliance, which had been working to save her. “She was euthanized just past dawn, ending her battle against squamous cell cancer.”
The critically endangered species often falls victim to hunters and poachers, many driven by a market based on false beliefs about the horn’s efficacy as a health supplement. The hunting threat, combined with a decline in habitat and dwindling opportunities to breed, has brought the world’s population below 100 Sumatran rhinos in total.
But it later became clear that the abscess was a symptom of the cancer that ultimately overtook Puntung. The Borneo Rhino Alliance said in late May that she could no longer breathe through her left nostril, could no longer make sounds, and was in pain. The Malaysian government authorized the decision to put her down.
Puntung, whose name translates to “stub,” lacked a front left foot, according to the alliance, which theorized she had lost it to a hunter’s snare when she was small. Announcing her death Sunday, the group said, “We’ll always remember her as a fighter.”
Read the full article and links on National Geographic
By Avila Geraldine, NST Online Puntung, one of Malaysia’s last surviving Sumatran rhinos, is now at death’s door. The female rhino has been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer, which has been spreading rapidly over the last few weeks. (Latest photo of Puntung courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department)
KOTA KINABALU: Puntung, one of Malaysia’s last surviving Sumatran rhinos, is now at death’s door.
The female rhino has been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer, which has been spreading rapidly over the last few weeks.
Specialists from various countries have all delivered the same devastating verdict: with or without treatment, the cancer will be fatal for the 25-year-old rhino.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga, announcing this, said that as of today, Puntung can no longer breathe through her left nostril.
“She can also no longer vocalise. She is in pain and her condition is declining fast.
“Other than administering painkillers, there is nothing more anyone can do,” he said.
Tuuga said the department has been left with little choice but to make a very difficult decision.
“We are left with no other recourse except to agree with professional medical advice and accordingly, we have authorised euthanasia.”
“This was a very difficult decision to make, but the specialists agree that on balance, this is the best out of a very small number of unpleasant choices,” he said.
The euthanasia will be done on June 15.
In April, Puntung underwent an operation to extract two molars and a premolar from the upper left side of her jaw, which had been causing 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.
Tuuga said it turned out that the swelling on Puntung’s left cheek that alerted them to the infected tooth root had a more serious origin.
“After the surgery, the swelling progressed, and two subsequent biopsies revealed squamous cell carcinoma,” explained Tuuga.
Sabah is home to only three out of the last few critically-endangered Sumatran rhinos. The remaining numbers are in Indonesia.
Puntung, another female rhino Iman, and male Kertam, are being cared by a non-governmental organisation, Borneo Rhino Alliance, at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.
Puntung was captured in 2011. It was subsequently established that she was the last remaining wild rhino in the Reserve.
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.
Read the article on NST online
It is with great sadness that we make this announcement.
Puntung is dying of cancer.
The swelling on Puntung’s left cheek that alerted us to the infected tooth root had a more serious origin. The cancer has been spreading rapidly over the past few weeks. Specialists from several countries concur that it will be fatal, with or without treatment.
As of today, Puntung can no longer breathe through her left nostril, she can no longer vocalise, she is in pain and her condition is declining fast. Other than administering painkillers, there is nothing more anyone can do. Accordingly, the government has authorized euthanasia. This was a very difficult decision to make, but this is the best out of a very small number of unpleasant choices.
This is devastating news for all of those who have been involved in Puntung’s life over the past ten years, from those in SOS Rhino who monitored her wild in the Tabin forests since 2007, those who captured her in 2011, to those who cared for daily and still care for her right up to now.
We thank the many people – from our kind sponsors, to our staff who’re providing intensive care to her, and to all of you – who heartened us with their good wishes in April and financial support for the dental surgery and follow-up work.
We have kept in close touch with experts in Europe, South Africa and Thailand, and there is no doubt in our minds that any form of conventional treatment would just prolong her agony. We are also making preparations to try to recover eggs or oocytes from Puntung. With that, she may yet be able to contribute to the survival of her species.
Till then, we will provide her the very best of care, and help to minimize her suffering. By making her as comfortable as possible, we hope to ease the great pain we feel as well.
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.
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.
The recent news of the extinction of the Javan rhinoceros on mainland Asia, with the death by poaching of the last remaining female in Vietnam in 2010, prompts us to draw attention to two implications for Malaysia. Firstly, this same kind of rhino went extinct in Malaysia in the 1930s. Thus, what seems at first to be only a local loss from Peninsular Malaysia has transformed into a global extinction of a unique population of Javan rhinoceros. It is now up to Indonesia to save the last remaining population of the species, on the island of Java. Secondly, there is another species of Asian rhinoceros of concern nearer to home. This is also an extremely endangered species, commonly known as the Sumatran rhinoceros, previously widespread in Asia but now confirmed to occur only in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Despite dedicated efforts to protect this species from poaching over the past few decades, within protected areas in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, numbers have continued to decline. Most specialists close to the situation now believe that habitat loss and poaching no longer represent the major threats to the survival of this rhino. Instead, numbers are so very low that factors associated with low numbers, including inability to find a fertile mate, pathology of the reproductive organs in females resulting in no pregnancies, inbreeding and skewed sex ratio, mean that for many years, rhino death rate has been exceeding birth rate. If this is so, then protection of the remaining wild rhinos and their habitat are necessary but insufficient measures to prevent the species extinction.
In a paper titled “Now or never: what will it take to save the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis from extinction?” published in the international conservation journal Oryx earlier in 2011, Ahmad Zafir and his colleagues in WWF-Malaysia, Sabah Wildlife Department and Yayasan Badak Indonesia, wrote the following: “Recent data from governments, NGOs and researchers indicate that the global Sumatran rhino population could be as low as 216, a decline from about 320 estimated in 1995. Based on lessons learnt and expert opinions we call on decision makers involved in Sumatran rhino conservation to focus on a two-pronged approach for conservation of the species: (1) the translocation of wild rhinos from existing small, isolated or threatened forest patches into semi-in situ captive breeding programmes, and (2) a concomitant enhancement of protection and monitoring capacities in priority areas that have established these breeding facilities or have recorded relatively high population estimates and track encounter rates. At least USD 1.2 million is required to implement this two-pronged strategy annually in four priority areas: Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas National Parks on Sumatra, and Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve on Sabah.” The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary programme is already underway in Sabah, based on those two approaches, and implemented by Sabah Wildlife Department with assistance from other agencies including Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Berlin), Yayasan Sime Darby, WWF-Malaysia and Borneo Rhino Alliance, a recently established Malaysian NGO dedicated to saving the rhinos in Sabah. A similar programme has been underway in Indonesia for more than a decade.
The extinction of the Vietnam rhino suggests that leaving rhinos in the wild to be poached or die of old age is no longer an adequate approach. Instead, the Indonesian and Malaysian approach for the Sumatran rhinoceros is most likely now the only way forward to prevent the extinction of this species. Why bother to save the species? The argument is ethical, not economic. Fossils show that something very similar to this form of rhino has existed for about 20 million years, and we may be only a decade or two away from its extinction if no active interventions are made. Now that we know the situation, we ought to try to prevent extinction before that opportunity is lost. Is it worth the money? Ahmad Zafir and colleagues put that question in context, noting in their paper that the annual cost of running the ongoing programmes in Sumatra and Sabah is equivalent to the amount paid at an auction in USA in 2010 for a 1939 edition of a Batman comic book.
We surely do not want Malaysia to have to announce in a couple of decades from now news similar to that from Vietnam last month. Let’s recognise that efforts to promote the survival of the Sumatran rhinoceros ought to be made a national conservation priority.
This joint statement is signed off by the following organisations:
Attempts to breed these three rhinos naturally have proven unsuccessful. Tam’s sperm quality is not ideal. Although Puntung and Iman are still producing eggs, they both have reproductive pathologies that have rendered them unable to bear a foetus. The only way the species can be saved in Malaysia is through advanced reproductive technology (ART) – using methods such as in-vitro fertilization to create a Sumatran rhino embryo in a laboratory before implanting it in a viable surrogate mother.
In the in vitro laboratory at Agro-biotechnology Institute (ABI) Malaysia, (left to right) Prof. Abdul Wahid Haron (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia), Mr Loo Shu San (ABI), Dr Zainal Z Zainuddin (BORA veterinarian), Prof. Arief Boediono (Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia)
Puntung was captured in 2011 and kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino. — Picture via Borneo Rhino Sanctuary
A Thai veterinary team had successfully extracted two molars and one premolar from Puntung’s left upper jaw during a two-hour-and-twenty minute surgery on April 19, 2017 . — Picture by Julia Chan
IZW experts Professor Thomas Hildebrandt and Dr Robert Hermes extract eggs from Iman, assisted here by BORA staff Hassan Sani.
File image of Puntung, a female rhino rescued by BORA vet Dr Zainal Zainuddin. Photo by C C Azrie Alliamat
For years, we’ve been trying to engage and work with prominent institutions that are able to influence or lead the charge to save the Sumatran rhino but we’ve been forced to refrain from taking them to task.
A Sumatran rhino wallows in a mud bath at Tabin Wildlife Reserve
KOTA KINABALU: The worst has come to pass.
A Sumatran rhino that symbolized the power of social media to potentially save wildlife was euthanized Sunday in Malaysia. Puntung, a 20-year-old female, succumbed to cancer. She was one of three remaining Sumatran rhinos in the country.
Puntung, one of Malaysia’s last surviving Sumatran rhinos, is now at death’s door. The female rhino has been diagnosed with squamous cell cancer, which has been spreading rapidly over the last few weeks. (Latest photo of Puntung courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department)
The swelling on Puntung’s left cheek that alerted us to the infected tooth root had a more serious origin. The cancer has been spreading rapidly over the past few weeks. Specialists from several countries concur that it will be fatal, with or without treatment.
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.
The recent news of the extinction of the Javan rhinoceros on mainland Asia, with the death by poaching of the last remaining female in Vietnam in 2010, prompts us to draw attention to two implications for Malaysia. Firstly, this same kind of rhino went extinct in Malaysia in the 1930s. Thus, what seems at first to be only a local loss from Peninsular Malaysia has transformed into a global extinction of a unique population of Javan rhinoceros. It is now up to Indonesia to save the last remaining population of the species, on the island of Java. Secondly, there is another species of Asian rhinoceros of concern nearer to home. This is also an extremely endangered species, commonly known as the Sumatran rhinoceros, previously widespread in Asia but now confirmed to occur only in Indonesia and Malaysia.