February 18, 2010 By admin

March 17 2009 saw LEAP helping to organise another groundbreaking conservation fundraising event with its partner organisation, BORA.

A ‘RHINO RESCUE LUNCH’ was held at a leading hotel in Kota Kinabalu. The Guest of Honour was the Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun and over 70 people participated, with representatives from the government, NGO and private sectors, as well as concerned individuals.

Generous donors gather for a photo at the March 2009 Rhino Rescue Lunch

An amazing RM530,000 (about USD$150,000) was raised through a novel and interactive pledge-making process where pieces of a giant jigsaw of a rhino picture were ‘bought’ by donors. The event helped to bring the plight of the Bornean rhino to a much wider audience and resulted in operational funds being secured for the BORA Rhino Protection Unit to function for another year.

Click on a photo to view some of the highlights of the Lunch.

February 6, 2010 By admin

Almost a decade ago, Andalas’s birth at the Cincinnati Zoo was cause for much celebration. It offered hope that individuals in captivity could help to replenish the numbers of this critically endangered species. Since then, Andalas has gone from strength to strength. In 2007, it was time at last to return to Sumatra to do what comes naturally. After an arduous journey, Andalas was home in his native habitat. This photo gallery and video captures moments from his journey over the past ten years.

As part of the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary’s captive breeding program, Andalas (the 7-year-old male Sumatran rhino born at the Cincinnati Zoo and transferred to Indonesia in 2007) is being exposed to as many of the sanctuary’s female rhinos as possible so he learns to communicate with the females long before they are put together for breeding purposes. This socialization process is being facilitated by feeding the rhinos their daily diets through the fence at the central breeding area, and then opening the gate so the rhinos can interact with each other if they choose. Over the past several months, Andalas has routinely been introduced to all three of the Sanctuarys females: Bina, Ratu and Rosa. This video shows an introduction between Andalas and Ratu – chasing and fighting are actually part of normal rhino “courting rituals.” Soon after this video was shot, Andalas mated with Ratu for the first time.

Video from the International Rhino Foundation.

February 4, 2010 By admin

Despite superficial similarities, the five species of rhino that remain have many distinctive features and behaviours. You can get a sense of some of these differences as you browse this photo gallery.