By Brigit Katz, smithsonian.com, June 5, 2017

Back in April, a team of veterinary specialists flew to Malaysia to perform urgent dental surgery on Puntung, one of the country’s last three Sumatran rhinos. The procedure to correct Puntung’s life-threatening abscess seemed to be a success: Within hours of the operation, the rhino was chomping on tasty foliage. The effort to save her captured attention across the globe.

BORA filepic of Puntung wallowing in her temporary forest paddock two days after her capture

But as Christina Nunez reports for National Geographic, experts later determined that Puntung’s abscess was a symptom of cancer, and her condition began to decline. To alleviate her suffering, Puntung was euthanized on Sunday.

“Today is one of the saddest days we’ve ever faced,” the Borneo Rhino Alliance, which had been caring for Puntung, wrote in a Facebook post. The organization went on to explain that while it had considered performing chemotherapy, radiation, and further surgeries, those treatments would likely have caused Puntung further distress.

“Sumatran rhinos wallow in mud for at least six hours daily and become increasingly stressed if kept in clean, closed facilities,” the post says. “A stress-free life for Puntung was simply not going to be possible.”

When Puntung first made headlines in April, she became a symbol of hope in the fight to save critically endangered species. Poachers and hunters seek rhino horn due to the false belief that it has medicinal value. There are less than 100 Sumatran rhinos in the world today and, with Puntung’s death, only two are now left in Malaysia.

As Austa Somvichian-Clausen reported for National Geographic earlier this year, efforts to treat Puntung began when South Africa-based journalist Adam Welz tweeted about the 20-year-old rhino’s plight. Welz then contacted Saving the Survivors, a South African non-profit that provides care to endangered animals. Plans were made to fly specialists from Singapore and Thailand to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah, Malayasia so they could perform surgery on Puntung.

Several weeks after the operation, the Borneo Rhino Alliance announced that the swelling on Puntung’s left check, which had alerted the organization to her infected tooth root, “had a more serious origin.” Her cancer was spreading rapidly, leaving her in pain and unable to breathe through her left nostril.

Nancy Lai of the Borneo Post reports that Puntung’s keepers slept with the rhino in her forest paddock so she would be under constant supervision. They noted that Puntung would periodically bleed from her nostrils.

“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,” Augustine Tuuga, department director of Sabah Wildlife, said in a statement, according to Lai.

Tuuga also noted that a reproductive specialist had been flown in from Jakarta to recover Puntung’s egg cells, which might help conservationists breed more Sumatran rhinos in the future. 

The Borneo Rhino Alliance writes on Facebook that Puntung’s life was far from easy. “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,” they write. “We’ll always remember her as a fighter.”

Read the full article on smithsonianmag.com

NST Online By AVILA GERALDINE

KOTA KINABALU: The worst has come to pass.

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.

Read the article on NST Online

The Malay Mail Online, 4 June 2017

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.

Read the article online

Borneo Post Online, 4 June 2017

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