KOTA KINABALU, 22 March 2014: Sabah wildlife researchers are hopeful that three Sumatran rhinoceros now in captivity at a reserve will help save the species from extinction. Sabah Wildlife Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said they were examining the latest captive, a female Sumatran rhino recently translocated to the reserve to join two other creatures from the critically endangered species.
Iman resting in her wallow
The female rhino was air-lifted by a helicopter to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve on Friday, about 10 days after its capture at the Danum Valley conservation area. Researchers have named the female rhino Iman after the small river at the Danum Valley.
“Once Iman is settled into Tabin, we will review all potential options on how she can best contribute to her species,” Dr Ambu said.
“We hope that this success will act as a boost to international collaboration on the Sumatran rhino, and through the NGO Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora), try to engage with our counterparts in Indonesia.”
He said the capture of Iman and two others – a male named Tam and a female named Puntung – was necessary.
“The Sumatran rhino is on the verge of extinction in Sabah. Bringing them into captive conditions allows us to maximise the chance that each rhino can help save the species,” Laurentius said, adding that the department had been working on this matter with Bora, WWF Malaysia and Yayasan Sabah.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the state Cabinet had decided a year ago to bring all remaining Sumatran rhinos into a managed, fenced-in facility.
“Our hope is to breed them with the neccessary local and global expertise,” he said.
“We also hope that with the continued support and expertise on rhino reproductive biology from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife based in Berlin, Germany, we will have baby rhinos soon,” Masidi added.
In this regard, he said while the Sabah cabinet had agreed to loan Tam to the Cincinatti Zoo for breeding as part of international collaboration, that move may not be necessary if Iman was proven to be fertile.
“The state Cabinet approval to send Tam to the United States was conditional upon our failure to catch a fertile young female rhino at Danum within a reasonable time to mate with Tam,” he added.
CINCINNATI, OH (September 6, 2009) – “Emi”, the world’s most famous endangered Sumatran rhino, passed away yesterday morning at the age of 21 at her home at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. The female Sumatran rhino lived at the Cincinnati Zoo for the past 14 years and produced three calves, Andalas (2001), Suci (2004) and Harapan (2007). In 2001, years of breakthrough research by scientists at the Zoo’s Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) resulted in the first captive birth of a Sumatran rhino since the 19th century.
“No animal has been more beloved than Emi in the 134 year history of the Cincinnati Zoo,” said Thane Maynard, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. “She is the most famous rhino in the world and has led the way in the effort to establish a successful captive breeding program for this critically endangered animal. My fondest hope is that we now build on Emi’s legacy and increase our efforts tenfold to continue the global effort to save the Sumatran rhino.”
In March, the Zoo’s Animal Care Staff first noticed that Emi’s appetite was inconsistent; she had less energy and had lost some weight. Concerned Zoo Veterinarians performed a complete physical exam with blood work in early April. Her examination was unremarkable, but blood work indicated some subtle changes in her liver function. Veterinary staff continued to conduct a battery of diagnostic tests and consulted with numerous rhino experts worldwide in an attempt to determine a cause for her clinical signs. In May, Emi’s attitude improved, her appetite picked up, and she gained some weight back. However, overall, her appetite and attitude had been inconsistent and despite various treatments administered, her condition continued to deteriorate. On the day of her death a thorough post mortem exam was performed. Tissue samples will be submitted to a veterinary pathologist to help determine a cause of death.
“It is always devastating when an animal reaches the end of its life, especially those that are so special, but Emi could not have been in better hands all these years,” said Dr. Terri Roth, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo’s CREW. Our Veterinary staff has been working tirelessly for months to identify the source of Emi’s illness, and our keeper staff has done everything possible to support Emi on a daily basis during our struggle to save this rhino.”
A decade ago, little was known about caring for the critically endangered Sumatran rhinos in captivity, let alone their mating habits and reproductive cycles. But Cincinnati Zoo staff, led by Dr. Terri Roth, have relied on the use of ultrasound, close monitoring of hormone levels and years of patient observation and trial-and-error to learn how to successfully breed the Sumatran rhinos.
Emi’s first calf, Andalas, was the first Sumatran rhino bred and born in captivity in 112 years.
Repeating that success with the birth of a second calf, Suci, in 2004, was absolutely essential to validate the scientific methods developed at the Cincinnati Zoo and for the continued progress of the captive breeding program. In 2007, Emi gave birth to an unprecedented third calf, Harapan, again raising hopes among conservationists that the captive breeding could play an important role in the species’ recovery.
Andalas, now almost 8 years of age, was transported to the Way Kambas Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia in 2007 to take part in an international breeding program. The Sanctuary has been in close consultation with the Cincinnati Zoo. The methodology that has proven successful at the Cincinnati Zoo is being adapted to the conditions at the Sanctuary. With the arrival of Andalas, the options for reproduction have increased dramatically and the Sanctuary is poised for success. Rhino experts are hopeful that he will successfully breed with the females at the Sanctuary to achieve pregnancies and offspring.
The Cincinnati Zoo is the only place in the world to successfully breed this critically endangered species in captivity. Two out of the three Sumatran rhinos living in the United States, five-year-old Suci and her father, Ipuh, reside at the Cincinnati Zoo. Harapan moved to the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida in 2008. Emi and Ipuh were both sent to the U.S. by the Indonesian government as part of a cooperative agreement developed between Indonesia and four U.S. zoos (Cincinnati, Bronx, Los Angeles and San Diego).
Considered the most endangered of all rhino species and perhaps the most endangered mammal species on earth, it is estimated that at least 60 percent of the Sumatran rhino population has been lost in the last two decades. The primary cause is conversion of rhino habitat for agriculture, even in some national parks, and poaching for its horn which some Asian cultures believe contains medicinal properties. Today, there are only nine Sumatran rhinos living in captivity worldwide and fewer than 200 animals exist in isolated pockets of Sabah, Malaysia and the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Sumatran rhinos can live 35-40 years.
The Cincinnati Zoo is working closely with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, the Indonesian Rhino Foundation, the IUCN Asian Rhino Specialist Group and the International Rhino Foundation, to protect this species in the wild, and also propagate Sumatran rhinos in captivity. Both approaches will be necessary to secure the future of this critically endangered species for future generations.
In Loving Memory of Emi: A dedication to Emi written by Dr Terri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo
KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife experts here remain hopeful about the future of the highly endangered Sumatran rhino following a rare picture of a 20-year-old female that is believed to be pregnant. The picture of the female rhino was captured by remote camera trap devices set up jointly by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia. The picture was considered rare as there were estimated to be less than 30 rhinos left on the entire island of Borneo.
The pregnant rhino captured on remote camera trap by WWF Malaysia outside Tabin Wildlife Reserve
International Rhino expert Dr. Terri Roth said she was hoping that the female rhino was indeed pregnant.
“There are so few Sumatran rhinos left in the world that each calf represents a lifeline for the species, she said here Tuesday.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the department was working with WWF-Malaysia and the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) to finalise the Rhino Action Plan that which would be expected to be ready for full implementation by August this year. The plan would address the conservation plans of the viable population including isolated rhinos, Dr Laurentius added. He said his department intended to take a “different” approach in managing the viable but isolated rhino population in Sabah.
Habitat protection and enforcement have been recognised as the main strategy in order to ensure the survival of the viable rhino population in forest reserves, while a breeding programme has been identified as the key strategy in order to address the conservation plan for the isolated rhinos, Dr Laurentius added.
The rhino breeding programme is currently supported by Sime Darby, the Malaysian federal government and WWF-Malaysia. The future of rhinos in Borneo now depends on how seriously the enforcement and security work in the forest reserves can be implemented and coordinated, said Raymond Alfred, Head of the Borneo Species Programme, WWF-Malaysia. The monitoring and survey work in the central forest of Sabah is currently supported by HONDA Malaysia, WWF-Netherlands, WWF-Germany and USFWS since 2005.
WWF-Malaysia is working with the department and the Sabah Forestry Department to look into reinforcing the security of the forest reserves that are the key habitats for the animals. Alfred noted that that data from an ongoing rhino monitoring and survey programme showed that the animals’ home range was affected by oil palm plantation expansion near the state’s coastal areas. The research also indicated that sustainable logging activities had minimal impact on the rhino population while conversion of forests especially those located adjacent to key rhino habitat into other mono-crop plantations such as oil palm would further worsen the fragmentation of the rhino population.
Published on www.ecolocalizer.com, August 18th, 2009
Tam can roam in the knowledge that he is safe from poachers in the rhino sanctuary.
An initiative to transport lone Borneo rhinos to a secure central location – where they can interact with other rhinos – could mean hope for this extremely rare subspecies.
Tabin Wildlife Reserve located in Sabah, Malaysia is the last home of the Bornean rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), a distinct subspecies of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis). It is estimated that fewer than 50 Bornean rhinos are still surviving in Sabah. Borneo rhinos are said to be even smaller than Sumatran rhinos, with some standing only three feet tall at the shoulder. Both species are covered with bristly hair that rubs down as they mature and create “tunnels” by crashing through the rainforest.
Sadly, some of these rhinos are living alone in fragmented pockets of forest, cut off from other rhino populations, where they have no hope of meeting another of their kind – and the isolation of these animals could lead to their extinction.
In a recent article in the Star (Malaysia), Junaidi Payne of WWF and Borneo Rhinoceros Alliance (Bora) says that these rhinos are likely to die out completely unless there is some active intervention.
In the past, rhinos were threatened by poaching, loss of habitat and so on. But now they are mostly threatened by the simple fact that there just aren’t enough of them around in one place anymore. Tabin is the only place left in Malaysia where there is hope of saving the rhino because there are a few breeding individuals and we know the habitat is good because historically they were here.
An intervention to save Borneo rhinos
Fortunately, some human intervention has arrived: Plans have been approved to create the 4,500ha Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary (BRS) within Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Individual rhinos will be brought in from their fragmented locations in hopes that roaming free together in the sanctuary will entice them to breed.
The Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary (BRS) is new hope for these small rhinos. The plan is not to round up every wild rhino in Sabah, but rather to locate the isolated rhinos and transport them to a central location where they can roam and interact naturally with other rhinos in the sanctuary.
This will be a “hands-off” breeding program, in contrast to a failed captive breeding program in Malaysia in which tragically, most of the rhinos died. By translocating these rhinos to the BRS, they are given a chance to contribute to the survival of the species – something they certainly cannot do alone.
As part of the initiative, the sanctuary will be encircled by an electric fence – the first project of its kind to include a large fenced area in a tropical rainforest.
The rhino sanctuary’s first resident
The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary even has its first resident – Tam, a male rhino found in a palm oil plantation last year. Because Tam did not want to return to the forest on his own, WWF’s Payne suspects the rhino had previously been injured by a trap set by poachers.
Tam is currently living in a fenced 2,500ha area until the sanctuary is ready. He receives regular medical check-ups from volunteers in a makeshift paddock within his temporary home.
Once the BRS is ready, Tam will be moved. The sanctuary is expected to be open in year. Wildlife experts are planning to capture four or five additional rhinos over the next few years, and introduce them to the sanctuary. It is not expected that the rhinos will begin breeding immediately, and it could be ten years before the success of the project can be determined.
Borneo rhinos in the future
The ultimate goal of the BRS is to ensure the long-term survival of these rhinos. Payne points out that without a conservation “intervention”, the Borneo rhino will become extinct in our lifetime.
The BRS is a joint initiative between the Sime Darby Foundation and the Sabah Government. The project is part of Sime’s Big 9 campaign to protect nine endangered Malaysian animals – the Sumatran rhino, orang utan, hornbill, sun bear, banteng (wild cattle), clouded leopard, pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey and the Malayan tiger, all of which (with the exception of the tiger) can be found in Tabin.
Here’s to the future success of the Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary!
Puntung enjoying a mud wallow in the safety of her temporary forest paddock days after her capture
Today is one of the saddest days we’ve ever faced. As of this morning, Puntung’s suffering has come to an end.
She was euthanized just past dawn, ending her battle against squamous cell cancer.
It was one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make, but euthanasia had become the only defensible option. Chemotherapy, radiation treatment and excision surgery might seem possible. But for us, her welfare was the most critical element. Any of those treatments would bring further distress to Puntung because they would cause her further pain and, at best, give her a few more months of life.
Sumatran rhinos wallow in mud for at least six hours daily and become increasingly stressed if kept in clean, closed facilities. A stress-free life for Puntung was simply not going to be possible. And so we made the very difficult choice of ending her suffering and giving her peace.
We’ll always remember her as a fighter. She survived a poacher’s attempt as a calf, when her foot was cut off. But she refused to give up and went on to survive in the forests. She then became pregnant in the wild, but tragically lost her baby. The complications of that pregnancy resulted in her having cysts in her uterus, but still she fought on… till the very end.
And that’s how we will honour her. By embracing her tenacity for life. We at BORA will not give up the fight to save the critically endangered Sumatran Rhino.
There are now only two left in Malaysia, and less than 100 in Indonesia. Puntung’s passing is the third captive Sumatran rhino death in the past 3.5 years. In this time, there has only been one birth in captivity. And with wild populations continuing to face risks, the number of deaths could dangerously continue to outpace the number of births.
This is the great tragedy that’s at our doorstep. One that we must fight. But we can’t do this alone. Humanity needs to come together, now more than ever. What we do today will define the very existence of an entire species. It will define who we are as people, a species who have the power to save the rest of life that we share this world with.
And just like Puntung, we at BORA will not give up.
Be at peace, Puntung.
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.
A media update from the Sabah Wildlife Department: Wildlife officials and rhino conservationists breathed a big sigh of relief today (19 April 2017) after successful surgery on Puntung, one of only two female Sumatran rhinos still alive in Malaysia. Puntung had been suffering since mid March from an abscess that would not heal despite treatment. Thai veterinary dentist Dr Tum Chinkangsadarn extracted two molar teeth and one premolar from Puntung’s left upper jaw during an operation that in total lasted two hours and twenty minutes on the morning of 19 April.
Puntung feeding again after the surgery
“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” said Sabah Wildlife Department Director Mr Augustine Tuuga.
“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 Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo Rhino Alliance.”
The procedure started at 7 am with X-rays done under sedation. Then Puntung was put under general anesthesia 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 had 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 have 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.”
Puntung being prepped for surgery A closer look at the extracted molars
This commentary by rhino expert John Payne urges the use of all available technologies to raise birth rates of Sumatran rhinos where they persist in Sabah and Sumatra. 14 January 2016 / Commentary by John Payne
The announcement on 9 December 2015 of the first births of healthy puppy dogs from in vitro fertilization was greeted with a few predictable comments (e.g. “test tube dogs … don’t we have enough homeless dogs already?”) but in general positively in the usually separate worlds of mammalian reproductive research and dog-lovers. Its potential relevance to critically-endangered wild mammal species was mentioned by the authors of the paper, but seemingly drew few remarks from people concerned with wild mammals that are endangered with extinction.
There are five extant rhinoceros species (two in Africa, three in Asia, all endangered), representing four genera, which tend to be lumped by non-specialists as if they are one, comparable to assuming that orang-utans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos can all be treated in the same way. For three rhino species (both African species and the Greater Asian One-horned), which live in extensive, lightly-wooded or grassy habitats (and which have received by far the most attention and funding over the past fifty years), the concept of simply protecting rhinos and habitats, with periodic rhino translocations, has essentially worked. Massive poaching is now the major problem to address. Experts in the African and Greater Asian species assume that the other two Asian rhino species (Sumatran and Javan) will be saved by the same approach. I suggest that this view is incorrect.
A Sumatran rhino (D. sumatrensis) at Way Kambas, Sumatra. Photo credit: Willem v Strien, Creative Commons
I have been involved for nearly four decades in endangered wildlife work in Malaysia and Indonesia, most closely with the Asian Two-horned Rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, commonly known as Sumatran rhinoceros. Early on, I believed that a combination of a protected areas and a global captive breeding program would save the species. Now that the species is on the edge of extinction, it is clear that neither method has worked, and that the only options are to give up entirely, or engage in a new approach, where the sole and uninhibited goal is to produce as many individual Dicerorhinus rhinos, as soon as possible. [Read more…]
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.
JAKARTA — A recent effort by scientists to produce a Sumatran rhino embryo using egg and sperm samples taken from the last of the species in Malaysia has failed, according to officials.
Those involved in the attempt had previously cautioned that there was a low chance of success, given the poor quality of the genetic samples they had to work with.
The egg cell was extracted on Sept. 30 from Iman, the last known Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Malaysia. The scientists then injected the egg with sperm from Malaysia’s last male rhino, Tam, who died this past May. His semen had been collected in 2015 and 2016 and preserved in liquid nitrogen.
But the in vitro fertilization attempt on Oct. 1 failed to produce an embryo after 72 hours of incubation, Augustine Tuuga, the director of the Sabah state wildlife department, said as reported by the New Straits Time.
“What we have gathered from the experts is that possibly Tam’s sperm was not of good quality,” Tuuga said. Tam’s age would have been around 60 years in human terms when his sperm was harvested.
Given these circumstances, the rhino experts were not hopeful about the results. “Given that IVF in Sumatran rhino has been tried only about 6 times, we expect a high failure rate,” John Payne, the head of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), which was involved in the effort, told Mongabay in an email.
“Iman’s egg cells are fine,” Payne said. “Tam’s sperm quality is likely to be the main problem. Imagine taking sperm from a 70 year old man with kidney disease — what do you expect? That is Tam.”
Iman, the last female Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. Image courtesy of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).
The fact that the team had to rely on “poor quality” sperm from a single aged rhino has highlighted the lack of progress on an agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia that would have allowed Iman’s eggs to be fertilized with healthy sperm from one of Indonesia’s rhinos. At the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia hosts three young males, including one who has already successfully fathered two calves.
However, Indonesia insists that to send sperm samples from its rhinos in Way Kambas to Malaysia, both countries would need to sign a memorandum of understanding for an exchange of specimens of protected species, the transfer of which is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Tuuga said the IVF efforts would continue and be improved, while also urging Indonesia’s help in providing sperm from the Way Kambas rhinos.
Christina Liew, the Sabah state minister of tourism, culture and environment, said representatives of both countries have had regular meetings, most recently in August, to discuss the possibility of obtaining sperm from the rhinos in Way Kambas.
No more than 80 Sumatran rhinos, a critically endangered species, are believed to survive in the wild, often living in small populations too small and isolated to be reproductively viable. Seven rhinos are held at Way Kambas, one in a sanctuary in Indonesian Borneo, and one in Malaysia. Two calves were born at Way Kambas after being conceived naturally, while previous IVF attempts in Malaysia were unsuccessful.
Indonesia’s environment ministry said in August that the two countries had earlier this year agreed on a new partnership that would see eggs shipped from Malaysia for IVF attempts in Indonesia. To date, however, the paperwork to finalize the deal has still not been completed.
Iman, the last female Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. Image courtesy of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).
24 May 2014. Iman under general anesthesia. Professor Thomas Hildebrandt (green work coat, IZW reproductive team leader), and Dr Robert Hermes (IZW sperm specialist) prepare for egg harvest, watched by Italian in vitro specialist Professor Cesare Galli (standing). Meanwhile (left) Dr Frank Goeritz and Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin take the opportunity the make a thorough examination of Iman’s feet and toe nails.
BERNAMA June 30, 2009
LAHAD DATU, June 30 (Bernama) — The Sime Darby Foundation (SDF) and Sabah government will set up a sanctuary in the Tabin Forest Reserve for sumatran rhinos to protect the wildlife from extinction. The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary will provide a safe refuge for the endangered Bornean rhino whose range is increasingly being encroached upon by commercial agriculture.
A 4,500-hectare area will be allocated for the project with the cost of providing the infrastructure including a fence around it being funded by SDF.
An agreement on the cooperation was signed at Tabin Wildlife Resort, about 48 kilometres from here, between the foundation and the state government Tuesday.
YSD was represented by its chairman Tun Musa Hitam while Sabah by State Wildlife Department Director Datuk Lawrentius Ambu. Present was Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
“We are providing RM7.3 million including RM5 million for the infrastructure in 4,500-hectare area to keep all sumatran rhinos found,” Musa said.
He said the plan to create the sanctuary was part of Sime Darby’s “Big 9” campaign to protect nine endangered wild animals, namely sun bear, orang utan, pygmy elephant, bornean clouded leopard, sumatran rhino, malayan tiger, monyet belanda (long-nosed monkey), hornbill and banteng (species of wild cattle).
Masidi said that project would hopefully help sumatran rhino to breed since there was a fear that it would become extinct if no effective action was taken.
Based on studies, no sumatran rhino calf had been found over the past four to eight years and one was the reasons was that adult rhinos live in solitude.
“Our hope is to build a wildlife centre specially for rhinos and put the animal caught in the wild in the sanctuary. Hopefully, the meeting of rhinos will help them mate and breed,” he said.
According to statistics, 13 sumatran rhinos have been detected in Danum Valley and another 15 in the Tabin Forest Reserve.
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.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry claims there are 63 Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park in Banten, West Java, and 100 Sumatran rhinos in Kerinci Seblat National Park between four provinces — Jambi, Bengkulu, West Sumatra and South Sumatra .
“As the population of Sumatran rhinos in the wild is reaching critical levels, conservation efforts in Indonesia need to be directed towards semi-natural breeding programs, as habitat protection alone is not enough to save them,” WWF Indonesia conservation director Arnold Sitompul said in the statement.
In 2015 the government launched a drive to protect wildlife and set a target population growth of 10 percent by 2019 for 25 of the country’s near-extinct species.
WWF Indonesia will celebrate World Rhino Day on Sept. 22 at the Global March for Rhinos in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Saturday with a series of educational events and newborn Javan rhino calves as the main attraction at Ujung Kulon park.
Iman resting in her wallow
The pregnant rhino captured on remote camera trap by WWF Malaysia outside Tabin Wildlife Reserve
Tam can roam in the knowledge that he is safe from poachers in the rhino sanctuary.
Puntung enjoying a mud wallow in the safety of her temporary forest paddock days after her capture
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.
Puntung feeding again after the surgery
Puntung being prepped for surgery 
A closer look at the extracted molars
A Sumatran rhino (D. sumatrensis) at Way Kambas, Sumatra. Photo credit: Willem v Strien, Creative Commons
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.
Iman, the last female Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. Image courtesy of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).
Iman, the last female Sumatran rhino in Malaysia. Image courtesy of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).
The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary will provide a safe refuge for the endangered Bornean rhino whose range is increasingly being encroached upon by commercial agriculture.
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.