.jpg)
Video traps produce first ever hard evidence of Sumatran rhino population in Kalimantan forests. (Photo from WWF Indonesia)
Camera traps have caught a glimpse of the elusive Sumatran rhino in the last place conservation experts expected to look: the jungles of East Kalimantan, the World Wildlife Fund-Indonesia announced on Wednesday.
“The team is delighted to have secured the first known visual evidence of the Sumatran rhino in Kalimantan,” the organization said in a press release.
The Borneo subspecies of the Sumatran rhino was thought to be extinct in Indonesia. About 25 of the critically endangered rhinos may remain in Malaysia’s Sabah state, according to WWF-Indonesia.
Conservation experts first stumbled on footprints that looked suspiciously like rhino tracks during a trek through the jungle to monitor orangutans in East Kalimantan. WWF-Indonesia and district officials then set up sixteen camera traps in the West Kutai district and waited.
It took three months, but in late June officials caught first sight of the two-horned rhino. A similar rhino appeared on camera on two other occasions — on June 30 and Aug. 3, WWF-Indonesia said. The animal was seen wallowing in the mud and wandering through the shots in search of food.
It is unknown if the footage is of one rhino or two, WWF-Indonesia said.
“This physical evidence is very important, as it forms the basis to develop and implement more comprehensive conservation efforts for the Indonesian rhinoceros,” Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said in his opening speech at the Asian Rhino Range States Ministerial Meeting, in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, on Wednesday.
“This finding represents the hard work of many parties, and will hopefully contribute to achieving Indonesia’s target of 3 percent annual rhino population growth,” he said.
Government officials and nongovernmental organizations gathered in Bandar Lampung for an international meeting on rhino conservation. Representatives from Indonesia, Bhutan, India, Malaysia and Nepal were in attendance.
WWF-Indonesia conservation director Nazir Foead pushed for greater conservation efforts of the Indonesian rhino.
“WWF calls on all parties, in Indonesia and around the world, to immediately join the efforts to conserve the Indonesian rhinoceros,” Nazir said.
There are fewer than 300 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild after decades of poaching and deforestation decimated their numbers.
Sumatran rhinos found in Kalimantan
Jakarta Post, 2 Oct 13;
A joint monitoring team, consisting the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia and West Kutai administration, discovered undisputable evidence of the presence of Sumatran rhinos in West Kutai, East Kalimantan, caught through video traps.
“This physical evidence is important to the development of Indonesia’s rhino conservation efforts,” said Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
He announced the findings at the opening of the first Asian Rhino Range States Meeting in Bandar Lampung, which will run from Oct.2 to 3.
Zulkifli said the monitoring team had obtained the first ever evidence of a two-horn Sumatran rhino in Kalimantan through 16 video traps that collected footage over a period of three months.
The footage, recorded on June 23 and 30 and Aug.3, showed rhinos wallowing in mud to lower their body temperature and foraging for food.
“We are calling on all parties, both in Indonesia and abroad, to immediately take part in the efforts to save rhinos in Indonesia, particularly Sumatran rhinos in Kalimantan,” said WWF-Indonesia conservation director, Nazir Foead.
Sumatran rhino caught on camera in East Kalimantan
Today Online, 2 Oct 13;
LAMPUNG (Sumatra) — The critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, once thought to be extinct in Kalimantan in Indonesia, has been caught on video wallowing in the mud and searching for food.
It is believed that two different rhinos were captured in the footage, said non-governmental organisation WWF Indonesia today (Oct 2).
The environmental group set up 16 camera traps covering 22,800 hectares as part of joint research with other agencies. The footage was captured on June 23, June 30 and Aug 3, and further study is required to confirm that different rhinos were captured on camera.
In March, WWF Indonesia and Forestry Ministry officials had discovered footprints of the Sumatran rhino and other signs of the creature’s presence in West Kutai, but there was no direct evidence by way of a visual sighting.
Indonesia’s Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said yesterday that “this physical evidence is very important” and forms the basis for more comprehensive conservation efforts for the rhino. Indonesia’s target is to grow the rhino population by 3 per cent a year, he said.
Researchers are still determining the habitat area of the rhino in West Kutai and it is too early to estimate its numbers. Intensive patrols, intelligence and community awareness in the surrounding habitat is key to protect the animals, as is raising local income in these communities, said WWF Indonesia. West Kutai officials, the Rhino Protection Unit and the WWF have been regularly patrolling the area, said WWF Indonesia conservation director Nazir Foead.
The Sumatran rhino is found in Malaysian Borneo, and fewer than 40 of them are believed to survive in small and highly fragmented populations in eastern and central Sabah, according to the Borneo Rhino Alliance.
Rhinos are herbivores and females can give birth to one calf every three years after gestation of 15 to 16 months. There are five species of rhinos found in various parts of the world - the Sumatran rhino (Borneo and Sumatra), the Black rhino (Africa), the White rhino (Africa), the Javan rhino (Java) and the Indian or Greater One-horned rhino (Eastern Himalayas).
Cameras capture Sumatran rhino in Indonesian Borneo
AFP, 2 Oct 13;
Jakarta — Hidden cameras have captured images of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino on the Indonesian part of Borneo island, where it was thought to have long ago died out, the WWF said Wednesday.
Sixteen camera traps -- remote-controlled cameras with motion sensors frequently used in ecological research -- filmed the rhino walking through the forest and wallowing in mud in Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan province.
The footage, filmed on June 23, June 30 and August 3, is believed to show different rhinos although the WWF said confirmation of this will require further study.
There were once Sumatran rhinos all over Borneo but their numbers have dwindled dramatically and they were thought to now exist only on the Malaysian part of the island.
But the research disclosed Wednesday, a joint effort between the WWF and authorities in Kutai Barat, shows that the animal is still present on the Indonesian side of Borneo.
Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
"This physical evidence is very important, as it forms the basis to develop and implement more comprehensive conservation efforts for the Indonesian rhinoceros," said Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.
"This finding represents the hard work of many parties, and will hopefully contribute to achieving Indonesia's target of three percent per year rhino population growth."
He urged officials and environmentalists to try and come up with a scientific estimate of the remaining Sumatran rhino population in Indonesian Borneo.
The research was unveiled at the start of an international meeting on efforts to protect rhinos in Bandar Lampung on Indonesia's western island of Sumatra, with governments from Bhutan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Nepal represented.
There are estimated to be fewer than 275 Sumatran rhinos remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
There are only a few substantial populations still in existence, most of them on Sumatra.
Poaching is considered the main reason for the dramatic decline in numbers, with the rhino's horn and some of its other body parts considered highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
Camera traps produce first ever hard evidence of Sumatran rhino population in Kalimantan forests
WWF Indonesia, 2 Oct 13;
© WWF-Indonesia/ PHKA
Lampung (2/10) – Using video camera traps, a joint research team that included members from WWF-Indonesia and the district authorities of Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan, have captured video of the Sumatran rhino in East Kalimantan. The footage of the rhinos --- the rare Dicerorhinus sumatrensis --- is the fruit of three months of research that collected footage from 16 video camera traps. The team is delighted to have secured the first known visual evidence of the Sumatran rhino in Kalimantan.
“This physical evidence is very important, as it forms the basis to develop and implement more comprehensive conservation efforts for the Indonesian rhinoceros,” said Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan upon unveiling the video at the opening of the Asian Rhino Range States Ministrial Meeting in Lampung, Sumatra. “This finding represents the hard work of many parties, and will hopefully contribute to achieving Indonesia's target of three percent per year rhino population growth.” He emphasized that all parties need to immediately begin working together to develop a scientific estimate of all the remaining Sumatran rhino populations in Kalimantan, and to implement measures to conserve the species --- particularly by strengthening the protection and security of the rhinos and their habitats.
The remarkable evidence from the camera traps includes footage of a rhino wallowing in the mud to keep its body temperature cool and a rhino walking in search of food. The rhino footage, captured on June 23, June 30 and August 3, is believed to show different rhinos although confirmation of this will require further study.
Nazir Foead, Conservation Director of WWF-Indonesia, said, “To ensure the protection of the species, a joint monitoring team from the Kutai Barat administration, Rhino Protection Unit, and WWF have been conducting regular patrols around the area. WWF calls on all parties, in Indonesia and around the world, to immediately join the effort to conserve the Indonesian rhinoceros”.
Commenting on the findings, the district head of West Kutai, Ismael Thomas SH. M. Si., noted “The local administration is fully supporting these conservation activities in West Kutai. We are drafting further laws to protect endangered animals --- including these rhinos.”
The Asian Rhino Range States Ministrial Meeting is taking place in Lampung 2-3 October 2013, with participation of goverment representation from Bhutan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Nepal.
Note for Editor :
The camera trap VIDEOS can be download at http://bit.ly/18EBb1a with © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA as copyright.
© WWF-Indonesia/ PHKA
See also WWF risking Sumatran rhinos by releasing camera trap images, says scientist
Jeremy Hance on mongabay.com