New Straits Times 10 Jun 10;
KOTA KINABALU: A potential female partner for Malaysia's only male Sumatran rhino in captivity has been detected in the jungles of Sabah.
Images of a female rhino caught by a remote sensing camera have given fresh hopes to the authorities, who are looking to pair it up with Kertam or Tam, the male rhino at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
It was the second series of images released by the Sabah Wildlife Department and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia. The first set of images released on April 21 were of a pregnant female rhino.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Laurentius Ambu said yesterday the images showed that although the species was on the verge of extinction, it was not too late to save it.
"It is a different rhino from the one whose photo we captured a few weeks ago in another area. This particular female rhino will be caught as a mate for Tam."
The Sabah Wildlife Department is taking the lead with support from Borneo Rhino Alliance, WWF-Malaysia and Sime Darby Foundation, among others.
"WWF-Malaysia loaned the camera that captured these new images," said Raymond Alfred, head of WWF-Malaysia Borneo species programme.
