Borneo Post, Jan 15 2012
BORA and BRS call on new Permanent Secretary
December 7, 2011 By
Sabah Wildlife Department comes under the Sabah State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. In 2011, the Ministry welcomed a new Permanent Secretary, Datuk Michael Emban, who is also Chairman of the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS) programme steering committee. BORA made a courtesy call on Datuk Michael on 23 May 2011 with Sabah Wildlife Department Assistant Director Dr Sen Nathan to outline progress of the BRS programme.
Picture shows Datuk Michael Emban (third from left) receiving a memento from Professor Dr Abdul Hamid Ahmad (left), Chairman of the BORA board of directors during the courtesy call. Also in the picture are Dr Sen Nathan (second from left), BORA Executive Director Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne (fourth from left), Deputy Permanent Secretary Mr William Baya, and Assistant Secretary (Environment) Mr Edip Abun.
Last ditch bid to save the rhinos
November 20, 2011 By
New Straits Times, column, Nov 20 2011
It is not too late to draw lessons from the continuing decline of the Sumatran rhino
Not long after news last month of the extinction of the Javan rhino on mainland Asia last year, the extinction of the western black rhino in Africa was announced on Nov 11.
Tam currently has 2.5 hectares to himself. Photo by Jeremy Hance
In that most recent announcement, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) experts noted that the next rhino likely to go extinct is the northern white rhino, a central African subspecies of white rhino.
How is this relevant to Malaysia? The last Javan rhino in Peninsular Malaysia was shot in 1932. Since the 1930s, Malaysia’s most endangered wildlife species has been the Sumatran rhino. The Sumatran rhino still survives in Malaysia, but is now close to extinction.
In 1984, an international meeting of Sumatran rhino experts was convened in Singapore under the aegis of IUCN, and an agreement was forged for collaboration between the governments of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Indonesia and a number of overseas zoos to work to prevent the extinction of this species
The agreement involved the establishment of protected areas that still contained small wild rhino populations, and a programme of captive breeding, involving rhinos to be taken from areas which at that time were under forest but allocated for conversion to plantations.
In several ways, the plans worked out. In the 1980s, Sabah established the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and Danum Valley conservation area, while Indonesia set up national parks in areas containing Sumatran rhinos.
The New Straits Times editorial of Sept 11, 1985 entitled “A survival kit for the rhino” gave a remarkably pragmatic and balanced opinion of the plan, stating that “in matters of conservation, there is little room for parochial attitudes and meaningless slogans about national heritage. Malaysia holds in trust for the whole world some of the rarest and most interesting wildlife.
Malaysia cannot take the risk of unwittingly allowing it to have the dubious distinction of being known as the last place on earth where the Sumatran rhino roamed”.
Unfortunately, that sentiment went unheeded. A number of Malaysian non-governmental organisations slammed the captive breeding component, mainly over the fear that our rhinos might end up in the United States, and the Sabah government withdrew from the agreement. Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia enjoyed some collaboration but in many respects charted their own courses for the rhinos.
A total of 40 Sumatran rhinos were captured between 1984 and 1994 in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. The upshot, however, was that of 18 rhinos caught in Indonesia, only one pair bred, producing three babies in Cincinnati Zoo, the oldest of which has been returned to Indonesia and is now the only breeding male in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Lampung province.
Even though nine females and three males were caught in Peninsular Malaysia and eight males and two females in Sabah, there was no transfer of rhinos between the two regions, and none bred.
Of those 20 Malaysian rhinos, only one survives today, a female which is now too old to be able to breed, although she was fertile when captured in 1994. For wild Sumatran rhinos, it is now four years since the last evidence of a birth in Malaysia
The fact that the Sumatran rhino is not already extinct can be viewed as luck or a miracle.
A last-ditch effort to save the species, the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary programme, is under way in Sabah, a government programme implemented by the Sabah Wildlife Department with support from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (for rhino reproduction), Borneo Rhino Alliance (operational) and Yayasan Sime Darby and World Wildlife Fund (financial)
What lessons may we draw from the tale of the continuing decline of the Sumatran rhino? The first is we are now well beyond the “usual suspects” of habitat loss, poaching and lack of awareness as the main threats. The problem now is that most remaining rhinos are old or infertile, and too few and too scattered to meet and breed.
The second is that once a species declines to such very low numbers, the only way to boost numbers and birth rate above death rate may be to bring some individuals into semi-natural fenced conditions. The idea is to maximise the prospect of every individual rhino to contribute to the species’ survival.
Catching rare wild animals to breed them in captive conditions with the involvement of non-governmental organisations tends to be a “politically incorrect” concept nowadays. Yet, that is exactly how and why the African and Indian rhinos did not go extinct in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was also one of the main reasons for the establishment of the World Wildlife Fund in 1961.
Thirdly, the lack of success of the 1984 IUCN-brokered collaboration agreement to save the species went off the rails largely because of a lack of close collaboration between all the parties involved.
So, the third lesson is: the need for open and whole-hearted collaboration, collaboration and collaboration, so that all parties are armed with all the latest information and thinking, so as to be able to choose the best way forward through the maze of opinions, partial information, assumptions, egos and government policies.
This time, a generation after a most sensible public statement was published in the NST on how to save the Sumatran rhino, let’s get it right. Otherwise, Malaysia will be able to announce the extinction of the species in just another generation from now.
Read more: Last ditch bid to save the rhinos – Columnist – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/last-ditch-bid-to-save-the-rhinos-1.8370#ixzz1eG2F6JSJ
Extinction of Vietnam rhinoceros and implications for Malaysia
November 15, 2011 By
The recent news of the extinction of the Javan rhinoceros on mainland Asia, with the death by poaching of the last remaining female in Vietnam in 2010, prompts us to draw attention to two implications for Malaysia. Firstly, this same kind of rhino went extinct in Malaysia in the 1930s. Thus, what seems at first to be only a local loss from Peninsular Malaysia has transformed into a global extinction of a unique population of Javan rhinoceros. It is now up to Indonesia to save the last remaining population of the species, on the island of Java. Secondly, there is another species of Asian rhinoceros of concern nearer to home. This is also an extremely endangered species, commonly known as the Sumatran rhinoceros, previously widespread in Asia but now confirmed to occur only in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Despite dedicated efforts to protect this species from poaching over the past few decades, within protected areas in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, numbers have continued to decline. Most specialists close to the situation now believe that habitat loss and poaching no longer represent the major threats to the survival of this rhino. Instead, numbers are so very low that factors associated with low numbers, including inability to find a fertile mate, pathology of the reproductive organs in females resulting in no pregnancies, inbreeding and skewed sex ratio, mean that for many years, rhino death rate has been exceeding birth rate. If this is so, then protection of the remaining wild rhinos and their habitat are necessary but insufficient measures to prevent the species extinction.
In a paper titled “Now or never: what will it take to save the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis from extinction?” published in the international conservation journal Oryx earlier in 2011, Ahmad Zafir and his colleagues in WWF-Malaysia, Sabah Wildlife Department and Yayasan Badak Indonesia, wrote the following: “Recent data from governments, NGOs and researchers indicate that the global Sumatran rhino population could be as low as 216, a decline from about 320 estimated in 1995. Based on lessons learnt and expert opinions we call on decision makers involved in Sumatran rhino conservation to focus on a two-pronged approach for conservation of the species: (1) the translocation of wild rhinos from existing small, isolated or threatened forest patches into semi-in situ captive breeding programmes, and (2) a concomitant enhancement of protection and monitoring capacities in priority areas that have established these breeding facilities or have recorded relatively high population estimates and track encounter rates. At least USD 1.2 million is required to implement this two-pronged strategy annually in four priority areas: Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas National Parks on Sumatra, and Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve on Sabah.” The Borneo Rhino Sanctuary programme is already underway in Sabah, based on those two approaches, and implemented by Sabah Wildlife Department with assistance from other agencies including Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Berlin), Yayasan Sime Darby, WWF-Malaysia and Borneo Rhino Alliance, a recently established Malaysian NGO dedicated to saving the rhinos in Sabah. A similar programme has been underway in Indonesia for more than a decade.
The extinction of the Vietnam rhino suggests that leaving rhinos in the wild to be poached or die of old age is no longer an adequate approach. Instead, the Indonesian and Malaysian approach for the Sumatran rhinoceros is most likely now the only way forward to prevent the extinction of this species. Why bother to save the species? The argument is ethical, not economic. Fossils show that something very similar to this form of rhino has existed for about 20 million years, and we may be only a decade or two away from its extinction if no active interventions are made. Now that we know the situation, we ought to try to prevent extinction before that opportunity is lost. Is it worth the money? Ahmad Zafir and colleagues put that question in context, noting in their paper that the annual cost of running the ongoing programmes in Sumatra and Sabah is equivalent to the amount paid at an auction in USA in 2010 for a 1939 edition of a Batman comic book.
We surely do not want Malaysia to have to announce in a couple of decades from now news similar to that from Vietnam last month. Let’s recognise that efforts to promote the survival of the Sumatran rhinoceros ought to be made a national conservation priority.
This joint statement is signed off by the following organisations:
Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA)
Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP)
Resources Stewardship Consultants Sdn. Bhd. (RESCU)
Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
WWF-Malaysia
Pregnant rare Sumatran rhino spotted in Borneo
April 20, 2010 By
By RUBEN SARIO, The Star, 19 April 2010
KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife experts here remain hopeful about the future of the highly endangered Sumatran rhino following a rare picture of a 20-year-old female that is believed to be pregnant. The picture of the female rhino was captured by remote camera trap devices set up jointly by the Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF-Malaysia. The picture was considered rare as there were estimated to be less than 30 rhinos left on the entire island of Borneo.
The pregnant rhino captured on remote camera trap by WWF Malaysia outside Tabin Wildlife Reserve
International Rhino expert Dr. Terri Roth said she was hoping that the female rhino was indeed pregnant.
“There are so few Sumatran rhinos left in the world that each calf represents a lifeline for the species, she said here Tuesday.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the department was working with WWF-Malaysia and the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) to finalise the Rhino Action Plan that which would be expected to be ready for full implementation by August this year. The plan would address the conservation plans of the viable population including isolated rhinos, Dr Laurentius added. He said his department intended to take a “different” approach in managing the viable but isolated rhino population in Sabah.
Habitat protection and enforcement have been recognised as the main strategy in order to ensure the survival of the viable rhino population in forest reserves, while a breeding programme has been identified as the key strategy in order to address the conservation plan for the isolated rhinos, Dr Laurentius added.
The rhino breeding programme is currently supported by Sime Darby, the Malaysian federal government and WWF-Malaysia. The future of rhinos in Borneo now depends on how seriously the enforcement and security work in the forest reserves can be implemented and coordinated, said Raymond Alfred, Head of the Borneo Species Programme, WWF-Malaysia. The monitoring and survey work in the central forest of Sabah is currently supported by HONDA Malaysia, WWF-Netherlands, WWF-Germany and USFWS since 2005.
WWF-Malaysia is working with the department and the Sabah Forestry Department to look into reinforcing the security of the forest reserves that are the key habitats for the animals. Alfred noted that that data from an ongoing rhino monitoring and survey programme showed that the animals’ home range was affected by oil palm plantation expansion near the state’s coastal areas. The research also indicated that sustainable logging activities had minimal impact on the rhino population while conversion of forests especially those located adjacent to key rhino habitat into other mono-crop plantations such as oil palm would further worsen the fragmentation of the rhino population.
Rhino Rescue luncheon secures funds for BORA
February 18, 2010 By
March 17 2009 saw LEAP helping to organise another groundbreaking conservation fundraising event with its partner organisation, BORA.
A ‘RHINO RESCUE LUNCH’ was held at a leading hotel in Kota Kinabalu. The Guest of Honour was the Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun and over 70 people participated, with representatives from the government, NGO and private sectors, as well as concerned individuals.
Generous donors gather for a photo at the March 2009 Rhino Rescue Lunch
An amazing RM530,000 (about USD$150,000) was raised through a novel and interactive pledge-making process where pieces of a giant jigsaw of a rhino picture were ‘bought’ by donors. The event helped to bring the plight of the Bornean rhino to a much wider audience and resulted in operational funds being secured for the BORA Rhino Protection Unit to function for another year.
Click on a photo to view some of the highlights of the Lunch.
Andalas’s journey
February 6, 2010 By
Almost a decade ago, Andalas’s birth at the Cincinnati Zoo was cause for much celebration. It offered hope that individuals in captivity could help to replenish the numbers of this critically endangered species. Since then, Andalas has gone from strength to strength. In 2007, it was time at last to return to Sumatra to do what comes naturally. After an arduous journey, Andalas was home in his native habitat. This photo gallery and video captures moments from his journey over the past ten years.
As part of the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary’s captive breeding program, Andalas (the 7-year-old male Sumatran rhino born at the Cincinnati Zoo and transferred to Indonesia in 2007) is being exposed to as many of the sanctuary’s female rhinos as possible so he learns to communicate with the females long before they are put together for breeding purposes. This socialization process is being facilitated by feeding the rhinos their daily diets through the fence at the central breeding area, and then opening the gate so the rhinos can interact with each other if they choose. Over the past several months, Andalas has routinely been introduced to all three of the Sanctuarys females: Bina, Ratu and Rosa. This video shows an introduction between Andalas and Ratu – chasing and fighting are actually part of normal rhino “courting rituals.” Soon after this video was shot, Andalas mated with Ratu for the first time.
Video from the International Rhino Foundation.
Know your rhinos
February 4, 2010 By
Despite superficial similarities, the five species of rhino that remain have many distinctive features and behaviours. You can get a sense of some of these differences as you browse this photo gallery.
CREW – Saving species with science
January 1, 2010 By
The Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildife (CREW) which is based at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens is playing a central role in the mission to prevent the extinction of the Sumatran rhino.
Emi became an icon of rhino conservation when she became the first rhino to give birth in captivity in over 100 years. She gave birth to three calves before she passed away in 2009.
Through their research, CREW scientists have become world experts on the reproductive physiology of Sumatran rhinos. In an effort to increase animal numbers and improve genetic diversity, CREW uses science and technology to achieve numerous reproductive breakthroughs in these highly endangered Asian rhinos.
The Sumatran rhinoceros is one of the most endangered animals on earth with fewer than 270 individuals distributed throughout fragmented rainforests of South East Asia. A captive breeding program was formally established for this species in 1984, but efforts to propagate these rhinos in captivity failed.
In 1997, CREW scientists initiated research using endocrinology and ultrasonography to learn about the reproductive physiology of the species. As a result, scientific breakthroughs led to the first Sumatran rhino calf bred and born in captivity in 112 years at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept. 13, 2001.
Since the birth of that first calf, two additional calves have been produced. This series of successful births clearly demonstrates how productive a captive breeding program can be when it incorporates good science, veterinary care, animal husbandry and intensive management. The Cincinnati Zoo remains the only place in the world breeding this species successfully in captivity.
In addition to its leadership role in the Sumatran rhino captive breeding program, CREW partners with other conservation organizations (Rhino Global Partnerships) to protect Sumatran rhinos in the wild by helping to support Rhino Protection Units (RPUs). These RPUs are trained to protect the rhinos from poachers, the greatest threat to the species. Furthermore, financial support and staff expertise are provided to facilitate the captive breeding program on Sumatra. The goal of the programme is to keep the rhinos safe in the wild and to establish a successful international captive breeding program for the Sumatran rhinoceros.
The return of a now adult Andalas to Sumatra in November 2007 was a significant and emotional milestone for the CREW team. It was the fruition of years of dedicated struggle marked as much by frustration and disappointment as by success and mini-miracles.
When Dr. Terri Roth, the Director of CREW visited the Cincinnati Zoo’s first-born Sumatran rhino calf, Andalas, in his new home at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) on Sumatra, she was delighted to find a rhino that is thriving in his tropical homeland. Weighing in at 770 kg, Andalas is now the largest rhino at the reserve and is bigger than his father Ipuh (at the Cincinnati Zoo). Andalas’s neck has thickened, and his interest in the female rhinos has become apparent, suggesting he may soon be breeding.
Despite all of these changes, Andalas has maintained his childhood love of people and the attention they give him. He is the most well behaved rhino in the reserve for blood collection, foot exams, ultrasound exams and many other hands-on procedures that help the staff maintain his excellent health. Andalas has never been sick or seriously injured and he has adapted to the new forest environment, the change in diet and exposure to many new insects that he hadn’t encountered in the US, without a hitch. We can be reassured that Andalas is clearly benefiting from the outstanding care and wonderful home the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary provides and await exciting news of successful matings and future offspring!
See how Andalas is adapting to his new home and caregivers in this video footage!
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Special thanks to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden for the use of photos and videos
What rhino horns are made of
November 6, 2006 By
Rhino horn nothing more than keratin, calcium, and melanin confirms research: Scientists Crack Rhino Horn Riddle
By Lisa Forster, Ohio University Press Release, November 6, 2006
Rhinoceros horns have long been objects of mythological beliefs. Some cultures prize them for their supposed magical or medicinal qualities. Others have used them as dagger handles or good luck charms. But new research at Ohio University removes some of the mystique by explaining how the horn gets its distinctive curve and sharply pointed tip.
Scientists have discovered new details about the structural materials that form the horn and the role those materials play in the development of the horn’s characteristic shape.
The horns of most animals have a bony core covered by a thin sheath of keratin, the same substance as hair and nails. Rhino horns are unique, however, because they are composed entirely of keratin. Scientists had been puzzled by the difference, but the Ohio University study now has revealed an interesting clue: dark patches running through the center of the horns.
The team examined the heads of rhinos that died of natural causes and were donated by The Wilds in Cumberland, Ohio, and the Phoenix Zoo. Researchers conducted CT scans on the horns at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens and found dense mineral deposits made of calcium and melanin in the middle.
The calcium deposits make the horn core harder and stronger, and the melanin protects the core from breakdown by the sun’s UV rays, the scientists report. The softer outer portion of the horn weakens with sun exposure and is worn into its distinctive shape through horn clashing and by being rubbed on the ground and vegetation. The structure of the rhino horns is similar to a pencil’s tough lead core and weaker wood periphery, which allows the horns to be honed to a sharp point.
The study also ends speculation that the horn was simply a clump of modified hair.
“The horns most closely resemble the structure of horses’ hoofs, turtle beaks and cockatoo bills. This might be related to the strength of these materials, although more research is needed in this area,” said Tobin Hieronymus, a doctoral student in biological sciences and lead author on the study.
The study also found that the melanin and calcium patches appear in yearly growth surges but the effects of temperature, diet and stress on the growth are still unknown. The results of the horn growth study may be of interest to conservation groups whose goal is to strengthen rhino populations and reduce the poaching of horn for the black market.
“Ultimately, we think our findings will help dispel some of the folk wisdom attached to the horn. The more we can learn about the horn, the better we can understand and manage rhino populations in the wild and in captivity,” said Lawrence Witmer, a professor of anatomy in Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and director of the project.
The Journal of Morphology published the research findings in its October issue. Witmer and Ryan Ridgely were co-authors of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted with the assistance of O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio, and The Wilds, an Ohio animal preserve.