By OLIVIA MIWIL – April 10, 2017 @ 12:32pm, NST Online

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department is not in the mood to celebrate just yet, although its critically-ill Sumatran rhino, Puntung, is showing signs of improvement.

Puntung, one of only three Sumatran rhinos left in Malaysia, condition reportedly showed signs of improvement over the weekend. Pictures courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department.

Puntung, one of only three Sumatran rhinos left in Malaysia, had suffered from a potentially dangerous abscess on her upper jaw two weeks ago.

Her condition reportedly showed signs of improvement over the weekend.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said Puntung had shown worsening symptoms of loss of appetite, intermittent bleeding from her left nostril and very passive behaviour on Thursday and Friday.

“Normally, she wo consume about 30 kilograms of fresh leaves and twigs daily.

“She ate very little over those two days, and spent most of the daytime lethargic in her wallow,” he said in a statement, adding that they had thought there was no hope left when intermittent bleeding was spotted on her left nostril.

On Saturday, Puntung became more active and the bleeding also stopped.

Augustine, however, said the department remains cautious on her condition despite the recovery signs.

The abscess poses grave concerns as the infection could cause sepsis and eventually death.

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.

Puntung, along with female rhino, Iman, and male, Kertam, are being cared for by non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu.

Bora Executive Director Datuk Dr John Payne said a combination of constant attention, antibiotics, fruits and various supplements may have turned Puntung’s situation around.

Meanwhile, the sanctuary’s manager and veterinarian Dr Zainal Zainuddin said Puntung’s stubborn nature had made their job of treating her more difficult.

“We have been trying to take an X-ray for the past four days but she is irritated not only by pain but by our attention, not least the injections.

“We are in frequent contact with specialist rhino veterinary surgeons in South Africa, but they need to see the radiograph before we can decide how to proceed.”

By now, a majority of the public are aware of Puntung’s condition. BORA had not released a statement till now, as we were hoping for Puntung to get better, but sadly she has shown little improvement. All of us here at BORA, are very much affected by this and are doing everything we can to treat her.  We are working round the clock to save one of the world’s rarest and most lovable animals, and will continue to do so.  We are heartened by your support and messages of encouragement. Further updates will be provided soon.

Many newspaper have featured stories on Puntung. You can find some of the links to the coverage below:-

Dire straits: Malaysia could lose Puntung, one of its last three Sumatran rhinos

By OLIVIA MIWIL – April 8, 2017, New Straits Times

KOTA KINABALU: Rescuers have resorted to handfeeding Puntung, one of the last remaining Sumatran rhinoceros, as it has shown no signs of recovery.

It was reported on Wednesday that Puntung has an abscess inside her upper jaw and she was not responding to antibiotic treatment.

Sabah Wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga said the mammal has been sick the past week, and spends most of the time wallowing. She has not been eating much in the past few days.

“When Puntung leaves her wallow at night, she will be handfed with some browse, bananas and mangoes in the forest paddock, up to midnight.

“The veterinarian said she was more perky today but only ate 5kg of browse last night,” he said when contacted today, adding that average daily consumption of browse should be around 15kg but in this instance, even 5kg of browse is fine as it will be able to sustain Puntung for about 38 hours.

Read the full article here

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Sumatran rhino Puntung critically illApril 6, 2017, Thursday – Borneo Post Online
KOTA KINABALU: Puntung, one of the last three Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia, is reportedly critically ill with an abscess deep on her upper jaw, which has not responded to drainage and antibiotic treatment.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said there is grave concern over Puntung’s health because there are signs that the infection is deep and likely to have spread even deeper.

“We are worried about sepsis, an infection that can spread quickly through the body and rapidly cause death,” he said.

“We estimate that Puntung is around 25 years old. Sumatran rhinos have a life expectancy of around 35 years. Loss of Puntung now would be a tragedy, because she potentially has quite a few years of egg production left,” said Datuk John Payne, the Borneo Rhino Alliance executive director.

“Veterinarian Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin has been caring for Puntung since the day of her capture and he is doing all that are possible to treat Puntung,” he said.

Read the full article here

Sumatran rhino extinct in Sabah wild

Saturday, 8 April 2017 – The Star online

NST Online 18 Dec 2016 by Olivia Mivil: ALL the remaining Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia and Indonesia, which number less than 100, should be managed as a single population to facilitate the reproduction of the critically-endangered species.

Researchers believe only a few of the species are left in Malaysia. Two females, Puntong and Iman, and a middle-aged male, named Kertam, have been relocated to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu, Sabah. Puntong, 20, had her front left foot torn off in a hunter’s snare trap when she was an infant, while Iman was the last wild rhino to be captured in Danum Valley, Sabah, in 2014. Both have problems conceiving due to the conditions of their reproductive system. Iman, despite being diagnosed with severe fibroids in the uterus, can still produce eggs. Sabah-based Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) executive director Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne says over a period of two-and-a-half years, 15 Sumatran rhino eggs have been obtained from Iman and Puntong. Bora’s role is to care for rhinos in the sanctuary, and seek and capture rhinos in the wild. All rhino eggs have been used for in-vitro fertilisation efforts, but have yet to yield results. “We need more females in the programme to secure the first embryo faster and work out the protocols and conditions for success,” Payne says. He says many factors affect the success of fertilisation, including old age, poor quality of sperm and eggs and other infertility-related conditions. Factors that need to be considered include the optimum pH level, ideal temperature and protein requirements for the egg maturation liquid during procedures at the laboratory. On the male rhino’s part, its sperm can be frozen with liquid nitrogen, so that it can be used later for in-vitro fertilisation. Payne says even though about a quarter of all remaining Sumatran rhinos have significant fertility issues, efforts to boost the reproduction rate are in the pipeline through advanced reproductive and cellular technologies. “We should not rely on hope to save the endangered species in the wild. In the past few decades, there have been too few individuals in any one area to form a viable breeding population,” he says, quashing a recent report by a researcher on the possible discovery of a rhino footprint in the Danum Valley conservation area. Last year, Malaysia declared that there were no more Sumatran rhinos in the wild. Since 2006, an experienced field team from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia has been searching for rhino footprints. Tens of thousands of hours of footage have been recorded, but no trace of rhinos have been found. However, during a survey between Aug 16 and Aug 29 at the conservation area, WWF Sabah Terrestrial Conservation Programme manager Sharon Koh Pei Hui said the team spotted a 23cm-wide footprint that might be from a Sumatran rhino. Payne says it was inconceivable that a half-tonne mammal would leave a vague outline of a single footprint, with no other signs of its existence in the vicinity.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga says discussions with the department’s Indonesian counterpart was underway to cooperate on rhino breeding. He says government is committed to conserving the critically endangered species. “In-vitro fertilisation requires experts and high technology to increase the success rate. “For now, we are relying on expertise from Germany, and the cost for each fertilisation attempt is about RM300,000.” To support the effort, the Federal Government has allocated RM11.9 million for advanced reproductive technology for rhinos.

Read the article on NST Online : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/12/197796/critically-endangered-species-fewer-100-sumatran-rhinos-left

Puntung relaxing in her temporary enclosure

The Star Online: 10 August 2016  KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife researchers are hoping to have more success in future captive breeding of the highly-endangered Sumatran rhino after successfully fully sequencing the genome of the animal.

This will enable the scientists to identify the genes causing health issues to rhinos in captivity and preventing them from breeding.

These include iron overload disease and reproductive tract problems, said Dr Love Dalen of Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH).

SMNH was involved in the genome sequencing together with the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) using the blood sample from Tam, one of the three remaining Sumatran rhinos in captivity.

 “Identification of candidate genes and mutations will enable comparisons to human counterpart diseases, thereby leading to a better understanding of the causes and consequences of these diseases in rhinoceroses,” she said.

“We can then directly apply this information to captive breeding programs and rhino management with the hope of saving this species from extinction,” said Dalén in adding that the information would be available to anyone once it was published.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said apart from Tam, they had also collected blood sample from other rhinos in captivity – females Puntung and Iman – as well as Gelugob before she died in 2014.

“We were ready to do everything we could to save the Sumatran rhinoceros from extinction and understanding the reasons behind their lethal pathologies was something we wanted to investigate,” he said.

Dr Sen, however, added that the sequencing the genome would not lead to any immediate possibility of cloning the Sumatran rhinoceros.

“Other technologies that would so called save the Sumatran rhinoceros from extinction are at a theoretical stage and there are several reasons why these technologies may not work at all,” he said.

“Therefore, using cloning or genome editing are not substitutes for the current captive breeding efforts and advanced reproductive techniques being carried out by Bora and the department,” Dr Sen added.

Danau Girang director Dr Benoit Goosens said the genome sequencing initiative would enable scientists to better understand the pathologies that have decimated the Sumatran rhinoceros population in the wild and in captivity.

“Even if it is probably too late to save the species in Sabah, this research can hopefully assist our friends and Indonesian colleagues in Sumatra and Kalimantan in their endeavour to save this emblematic species from extinction,” he added.

Read the original article here