Malaysia: Hope for survival of rhinos

New Straits Times 25 Dec 11;

KOTA KINABALU: The capture of a female rhinoceros has raised hopes for the survival of the species.

The rhinoceros was caught at a trap fixed within the 120,000ha Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu earlier this week.

Named Puntung, it will now be paired with male rhino Kertam or Tam, which has been kept captive also within the reserve since 2008. Their "home" will be a 20ha enclosure within the reserve.

The male Sumatran rhino, described as a national treasure, has been kept under the care of the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary programme, which involves the state Wildlife Department and non-governmental organisation, Borneo Rhino Alliance.

Experts had estimated that only 30 or so rhinos were left in the jungles of Sabah and most are not able to reproduce because of their fragmented habitats.

Since 1996, the Sumatran Rhino has been listed as critically endangered, which is one step away from extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Christmas miracle – healthy female rhino found in Tabin
Borneo Post 25 Dec 11;

LAHAD DATU: There was Christmas joy in the jungle yesterday as a healthy young female Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) was safely translocated within the Tabin Wildlife Reserve (TWR).

The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) and the SWD’s special Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) captured the rhino, named Puntung, in a joint operation.

“This is a fantastic gift for our uphill battle in ensuring the survival of this truly unique species and wonderful timing with Christmas, a time to give thanks for our blessings,” said an elated Dr Laurentius Ambu, the director of SWD.

Capturing and translocating Puntung was done after months of observation and careful logistical planning to ensure her safety by the dedicated field staff of SWD, BORA and WRU.

“We have monitored her since 2007, and there is no sign that any other rhino has entered into her range in the past five years. This is a stark indication that so few rhinos remain that they are simply not meeting for reproduction,” elaborated Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne, executive director of BORA.

Puntung had been specifically targeted since early 2010 as the mate for a middle-aged, lone male rhino named Tam, who was rescued from an oil palm plantation in August 2008 and cared for since then in the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS).

“We know all too well that Sumatran rhinoceros is on the brink of extinction with only definite signs of breeding in the wild over the past decade in Sabah and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. However, this rate is still far too low to ensure its survival which is why we have initiated this captive breeding programme,” said Payne.

A key component of the State Action Plan to ensure the continued existence of the Sumatran rhino in Sabah includes captive breeding of the rhinos within a large enclosed area covering 20 hectares of natural forest located within TWR. This area is now known as the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS) and is managed by the State Government.

The BRS Programme is also in touch with a similar programme underway in Sumatra, Indonesia. While all possible efforts are being made to ensure that natural breeding is prioritised, advanced reproductive technologies, some yet to be developed, will be needed to boost the number of Sumatran rhinos being born as well.

“This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal. We need collaboration and support in our efforts to prevent the extinction of this unique species that was once found in abundance,” said Ambu.

Ambu also commended the Sime Darby Foundation and the WWF for providing funding support and the Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Berlin) for technical assistance on rhino reproduction.

He also praised the commitment of all three teams as they are expected to be working throughout the holidays to ensure that Puntung’s safety and well-being as she adjusts to her new surroundings.

“The Wildlife Rescue Unit Rangers are also here in Tabin working tirelessly with BORA and SWD rangers in making sure that Puntung is well taken care of and remains in good health,” said Ambu.

He also thanked the Malaysian Oil Palm Council and the Shangri-La Rasa Ria for funding and supporting SWD’s WRU which acts as the rapid action force his department.

“The success of this undertaking today was a small part of the bigger group of government, non-government and institutes working together to ensure the survival of the Sumatran rhino. This cannot be done alone by one agency and we are thankful to have such support,” said Ambu.

Since 1996, the Sumatran rhino has been listed as being critically endangered, which is one step away from extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.

Rare Malaysian Rhino Gets New Mate to Save Species
Sean Yoong Jakarta Globe 25 Dec 11;

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian wildlife authorities said they have captured a female Borneo Sumatran rhino who will be paired with a new mate in a breeding program meant to save their species from extinction.

The plan is the cornerstone of efforts to preserve the bristly, snub-nosed animal, whose numbers have fallen to fewer than 40 in the jungles of Borneo island.

Officials have spent more than three years seeking a suitable mate for a middle-aged male rhino named “Tam,” who was rescued in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state in 2008 while wandering in an oil palm plantation with an infected leg likely caused by a poacher trap.

The first rhino previously found for Tam was too old to reproduce.

The Sabah Wildlife Department said in a statement late Saturday that rangers this past week captured a young female rhino nicknamed “Puntung” whom they had been monitoring for years.

“This is a fantastic gift for our uphill battle in ensuring the survival of this truly unique species,” said the department’s director, Laurentius Ambu. “This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal.”

No other rhino had been observed near Puntung in years, underscoring that there were so few left in the wild that they had few opportunities to meet and reproduce, said Junaidi Payne, executive director of the Borneo Rhino Alliance, a nongovernment group that works with Sabah’s government on rhino protection.

The statement did not disclose Puntung’s exact age. Tam is known to be more than 20 years old.

The captive breeding program is being conducted in a forest reserve in Sabah.

Borneo Sumatran rhinos are a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, which are the world’s smallest rhino species, standing little more than 120 centimeters at the shoulder.

The Borneo subspecies is found only in Malaysia’s corner of Borneo island. Their numbers have dwindled from about 200 a half-century ago as logging, plantations and other development encroached increasingly on their habitat, while poachers also hunt the animals for their horns and other body parts used in traditional medicines.

A similar breeding program for the Sumatran rhino in neighboring Indonesia suffered a setback last year when a pregnant rhino named Ratu miscarried.

Associated Press

Last chance to save rare rhinos
Roy Goh New Straits Times 27 Dec 11;
Sabah Wildlife Department to pair up Puntung, Kertam

PLAYING Cupid to two captive rhinoceros will be the main task of the state Wildlife Department in its mission to save the species from extinction.]

A female rhino named Puntung was caught last week and it will be paired with a male named Kertam that was kept in captivity at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu since 2008.

The state Wildlife Department and non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) will coordinate the effort through the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary programme, but it will be far from easy.

In the last 27 years, of the 43 Sumatran rhinos captured in Malaysia and Indonesia, none bred.

It was also four years since the last evidence of a birth in the wild in Sabah, where the rhino population stands at about 30.

In the months to come, experts will be considering the option of natural breeding, or even assisted, through artificial insemination on Puntung, which will be kept in a 20ha enclosure within the 120,000ha reserve.

Wildlife director Dr Laurentius Ambu said this may well be the last chance to save the species.

"We need support in our efforts to prevent the extinction of this unique species that was once found in abundance."

Bora executive director Dr Junaidi Payne said Puntung was first detected by researchers in 2007 and became a target for capture last year.

Payne also revealed Puntung was monitored for five years but there were no signs of it reproducing in the wild.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Sime Darby Foundation, World Wildlife Fund and Berlin's Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research will also be assisting in the effort.

Puntung was caught in a fixed trap in the reserve last week and was airlifted on Christmas Day in an operation coordinated by the department's Wildlife Rescue Unit, headed by Dr Sen Nathan, to the enclosure where Kertam is kept.

Since 1996, the Sumatran Rhino had been listed as critically endangered, which is one step away from extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Rhino saved in dramatic rescue
Muguntan Vanar The Star 27 Dec 11;

KOTA KINABALU: A dramatic helicopter rescue of a young and rare female Sumatran rhinoceros on Christmas Day has boosted hopes for the survival of the species that is facing extinction.

Sabah wildlife department director Dr Laurentius Ambu described the helicopter airlift of the rhino as a world’s first in a tropical rainforest.

The rhino, aged between 10 and 12 years and named Puntung, was first caught on Dec 18 in a joint operation by the department and the Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora).

It was kept within a temporary enclosure at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and placed in a crate on Christmas eve for relocation to the nearby Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, also within the reserve. However, rains and foggy conditions delayed the airlift.

“It was only on Christmas morning that the fog cleared temporarily and gave us a window to let the helicopter lower its cables to hook up the crate,” said Dr Ambu.

With an estimated 20 to 30 rhinos left in the wilds of Sabah, the capture and trans-location of Puntung gives conservationists another shot at breeding the species in captivity. It is hoped Puntung would mate with a lone captive male rhino, named Tam.

Dr Ambu said the conservation programme here is in touch with a similar programme in Sumatra.

“This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal. We need collaboration and support in our efforts to prevent the extinction of this unique species that was once found in abundance,” he added.

Meanwhile, department chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan said they hoped to get Puntung to mate with Tam, a middle aged male rhino, which was rescued in 2008 and placed at the rhino sanctuary.

“Attempts to get Tam to mate with another rescued female rhino, named Gelegup, failed as she was old and infertile,” he said, adding that Puntung looked healthy enough for breeding.

“We captured Puntung because, after two years of observation, we found that there were no male rhinos in the vicinity and it was unlikely for it to find a mate within its natural surrounding,” Dr Sen said.

“From camera trap observations, Puntung also had old injuries on its front left limb, giving more reason for her capture.”

Bora executive director Dr Junaidi Payne said Puntung was doing reasonably well.

“It was trapped, kept in an enclosure for a while and then airlifted in a noisy helicopter. It suffered some minor abrasion and is being treated with antiseptics.

“She is allowing people to handle her now and is drinking and eating well,” Dr Junaidi added.

He said the helicopter used in the rhino rescue, operated by American company Erickson Air Crane that has an office in Miri, was brought in for the airlift at a cost of US$70,000 (about RM210,000).

Yayasan Sime Darby has provided large financial support for Bora’s efforts to save the rhinos while Malaysian Palm Oil Industries Council was also aiding the wildlife department’s rescue unit.

Since 1996, the Sumatran rhino has been listed as “critically endangered”, which is just a step away from being extinct in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.

Bold bid for rare rhino offspring
New Straits Times 28 Dec 11;

THE capture of a healthy female rhino last week was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So elusive are the species that many experts will vouch that seeing one in the wild in their lifetime would be like a dream.

Soon after Puntung was airlifted out of the 120,000ha-Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah State Wildlife director Dr Laurentius Ambu called the capture a "Christmas miracle": that plus the fact there is a stud waiting in Lahad Datu, Kertam, which was caught in 2008.

This has triggered off international interest in helping the pair produce an offspring, naturally or artificially, to ensure the survival of the species.

The Borneo Rhino Alliance, Sime Darby Foundation, Worldwildlife Fund, Malaysian Palm Oil Council and Berlin's Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research have all stepped up to the plate to assist.

The odds are stacked against the effort though.

Dr Laurentius said: "Some adult rhinos have been known to be infertile. The sperm count on males were too low while on the females, their ovaries were covered by cyst formations."

Since 1984, 43 Sumatran rhinos have been caught in Malaysia and Indonesia but none have bred.

Only one pair has produced three offsprings via artificial insemination at the Cincinatti Zoo in the US.

Everyone remains hopeful. Early this year, the Sumatran Rhinoceros Global Management and Propagation Board was convened by top experts. It was decided that Sabah would be receptive to all reproductive options that science could provide.

Only 30 or so rhinos are left in the jungles of Sabah, making it the most endangered wildlife species in the country.

Since 1996, the Sumatran Rhino has been listed as Critically Endangered, one step away from extinction in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

"Giving up is not an option," Dr Laurentius said. He pointed out that two reproductive measures were now on top of their list.

Dr Laurentius also revealed they would be doing genetic resource banking via cryo-preservation of semen, oocytes, ovarian tissue and embryos.

"We will stick to the guideline. For now, active intervention seems best as this was how it was done by the Cincinatti Zoo."

This means that sperm will be collected from Kertam and inseminated into Puntung, They are both aged between 10 and 15 years old.

The matchmakers do not plan to allow the two to meet for now as they may not be compatible.

"We don't have the luxury of time," Dr Laurentius said.

The gestation period for rhinos is about 19 to 20 months and each female can get pregnant four to five times at most.

The department's Wildlife Rescue Unit and BORA have been tasked with looking after Puntung, which appears to be adjusting well to her new surroundings in an enclosure near where Kertam is kept in Tabin.

State department chief veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan said Puntung was feeding well and that she was allowing people to get closer.

Puntung was captured in a fixed trap on Dec 18.

Dr Sen said Puntung was first detected five years ago and had been closely monitored by rangers via remote cameras placed in the forest.

Rhinos are shy solitary animals that stay within its own zone and this helps conservationists keep track of its route and routine, he explained.