Isolated rhinos in fragmented Sabahan forests will be captured and placed in a new rhino sanctuary in a last bid to multiply their numbers.

Article by Michael Cheang, The Star, August 18 2009

AS you head into Tabin Wildlife Reserve, there is a massive tree that stands tall and proud beside the road. The tallest tree in the reserve, it seems to stand guard against the advancing hoard of oil palm trees across the road that also serves as the border between protected and developed land.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve is in need of such guardians, symbolic or otherwise. Located 48km from Lahat Datu in south-east Sabah and spanning 120,500ha of the Dent peninsula that forms the northern headland of Darvel Bay, it is one of the largest remaining protected wildlife reserves in the country; and crucially, the last major stronghold of the Bornean rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni).

Tam, a mature male found wandering in an oil palm estate a year ago, will be the first resident of a new rhino sanctuary in Sabah.

The Bornean rhino is a sub-species of the Asian two-horned rhinoceros, more commonly known as the Sumatran rhino. It is also the most endangered species in Malaysia, and will probably go extinct if there is no active human intervention, according to Junaidi Payne of WWF and Borneo Rhinoceros Alliance (Bora). Bora is a non-profit organisation and a joint effort between government and non-governmental groups that focus specifically on saving the rhino in Malaysia.

“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,” said Payne. “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.”

It is estimated that only 30 to 40 Bornean rhinos remain in Sabah, with the last survey in 2006 locating at least 13 individuals within Tabin. Consisting mostly of secondary regenerated forest (the area was heavily logged in the 1970s and 80s), Tabin has been a secure wildlife reserve for the past 25 years. It is categorised as a Class Seven forest reserve in Sabah – meaning its primary purpose is to conserve wildlife, and the forest cannot be logged anymore. It is also in no danger from being encroached upon by the surrounding oil palm estates.

Leafy lure: A Sabah Wildlife Department ranger providing leaves for the rhino at the oil palm plantation.

As such, it is only fitting that Tabin was chosen to be the site of a new (and some say, final) hope for the Bornean rhino – the 4,500ha Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary (BRS) where a small population of the animal will be left to roam free in the hope that they will mate and breed.

The initiative is jointly set up by Sime Darby Foundation and the Sabah Government. Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam and State Wildlife Department Director Datuk Laurentius Ambu signed an agreement on the initiative on June 30 at the Tabin Wildlife Resort located inside the reserve.

According to Musa, 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. Apart from the rhino reserve in Tabin, the foundation has funded the Malaysian Nature Society conservation project on the plain-pouched hornbill in Belum-Temenggor forest in Perak.

“We are providing RM7.3mil, including RM5mil for the infrastructure, to build the 4,500ha sanctuary for the rhinos in Tabin,” Musa said, adding that the funding will continue for three years until 2012.

A bulk of the funding will go towards upgrading existing infrastructure like volunteers’ living quarters and roads, as well as encircling the sanctuary with an electrified fence, which will make it the first such project involving a large fenced up area in a tropical rainforest.

‘Tabin is the only place left in Malaysia where there is hope of saving the rhino,’ says Junaidi Payne.

The sanctuary is also unique in the sense that it is a “hands-off breeding programme.” Learning from the painful lessons of past rhino captive breeding programmes in Malaysia where most of the animals died in captivity, the rhinos in the Tabin sanctuary will be a confined area and it is hoped that nature will then take its course.

However, this does not mean that all the remaining rhinos in Sabah will be herded up into the area to breed. Payne said wild rhinos that are already within Tabin wildlife reserve would be left alone. What the sanctuary is setting out to do is to capture “doomed” rhinos in isolated forests all over Sabah, and put them in the sanctuary. .

“There are pockets of forests all over Sabah where individual rhinos are living with no hope of ever meeting a mate and they will never contribute to the species’ survival. The sanctuary aims to bring these so-called ‘doomed rhinos’ together in the hope that they might mate,” said Payne.

The sanctuary already has its first resident – a mature bull called Tam, who was found wandering around an oil palm plantation 48km from Tabin last August.

“We found Tam in an oil palm plantation, and monitored him for two weeks until it was apparent that he did not want to go back to the forest. No one really knows why. The feeling is that he was injured by a trap in the forest. Finally, the Wildlife Department decided to catch it and bring it here instead,” said Payne.

Tam was put in a 2,500ha fenced area where he is free to roam. There is also a makeshift paddock in the area where Tam is fed and where volunteers conduct medical check-ups on him. These are just temporary lodgings for Tam though. Once the sanctuary is ready (hopefully in a year’s time), he will be put there to mingle with the other rhinos to be captured.

“We are targeting to catch another four or five other rhinos, in the next few years,” said Payne.

He reckons that with funding from Sime for at least three years, the sanctuary has a chance to work. However, the success or failure of the initiative may not be known for at least 10 years or so.

“Even if we catch a small number of rhinos and they don’t breed within three or four years, it still doesn’t mean the project is not successful,” he emphasised.

While the main priority is saving the rhinos, the sanctuary initiative will also draw attention to the importance of protecting and preserving a wide array of biological resources within Tabin. These include trees and plants from primary and secondary forests, as well as a large number of animal species inhabiting the forest. Besides the rhino, it is also home to the pygmy elephant, tembadau, deer, orang utan and other primates, carnivores such as the honey bear and the rare clouded leopard, birds, reptiles, amphibians and different species of river fish.

Tabin Wildlife Reserve is home to many of Malaysia’s most endangered species, including the Bornean Pygmy Elephant An aerial view of Tabin Wildlife Reserve

“Hopefully, the higher profile that the project brings will help elevate the status of Tabin to the level of iconic sites such as Sipadan Island, Danum Valley or Maliau Basin,” said Payne.

Story by RHISHJA LARSON

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!

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.

— BERNAMA

26 Dec 2008, Associated Press

A male rhinoceros recently rescued on the edge of Borneo’s rain forest is expected to become the first participant of a Malaysian breeding program for his critically endangered ilk, a wildlife expert said Wednesday.

The roughly 20-year-old Borneo Sumatran rhino, nicknamed “Tam,” was found wandering in an oil palm plantation in August with an infected leg likely caused by a poacher trap.

Tam, whose species is known for its solitary nature, has been resettled in a wildlife reserve in Malaysia’s Sabah state, the last preserve of the Borneo Sumatran rhino – a subspecies of the bristly, snub-nosed Sumatran rhino.

Authorities hope to bring at least five male and female rhinos into the reserve over the next few years so that they can mate and produce offspring, said Junaidi Payne, the senior technical adviser for the World Wildlife Fund’s Malaysian Borneo chapter.

“Their numbers are so low that they might drift into extinction if no one does anything,” Payne told The Associated Press.

Experts cannot confirm how many Borneo Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild, but estimates range from 10 to 30 individuals, many of them isolated from others in their species.

Borneo Sumatran rhinos have rapidly vanished in recent decades as their habitat has been lost to logging, plantations and other development. Poachers have hunted them for their horns, which are used in traditional medicines.

The rhinos in Sabah’s 300,000-acre (120,000-hectare) reserve will probably be able to find each other through their scent and mate without human interference, Payne said.

“If they are not stressed out by people, the chances of success should be better,” he said.

Hope for the subspecies was boosted after Malaysian government officials and WWF experts found new evidence of them in the wild in May 2005. Rhino protection units have since launched patrols to deter poaching.

Conservationists have warned the rhinos could face extinction in the next 10 years.

The Star, Tuesday February 6, 2007

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.