Sumatran Rhino news thread

ThylacineAlive said:
I'm sure it does from time to time, but that doesn't mean there are Kouprey, Javan Rhino, and Sumatran Rhinos there ;) As much as I hope there are, though.
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I'm not usually one to be optimistic with these things, and regarding rhino, i'm not.... BUT its worth mentioning: If Javan rhinos can survive all that time undetected in double the population, totally deforested, fragmented, bombed and land-mined VIETNAM ,then surely Burma isn't much of a stretch at all!
 
toothlessjaws said:
I'm not usually one to be optimistic with these things, and regarding rhino, i'm not.... BUT its worth mentioning: If Javan rhinos can survive all that time undetected in double the population, totally deforested, fragmented, bombed and land-mined VIETNAM ,then surely Burma isn't much of a stretch at all!
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Not to mention Bornean rhinos were rediscovered in Kalimantan just a matter of years ago. It's far from certain, but it's certainly possible.
 
toothlessjaws said:
I'm not usually one to be optimistic with these things, and regarding rhino, i'm not.... BUT its worth mentioning: If Javan rhinos can survive all that time undetected in double the population, totally deforested, fragmented, bombed and land-mined VIETNAM ,then surely Burma isn't much of a stretch at all!
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Agreed. However, given that the rhino in Vietnam survived all of what you have described and then rapidly became extinct within this decade I dont think this bodes well at all for any hypothetical populations that may be extant in Burma.
 
This does fill in some of the gaps. Rosa's seven non-viable embryos have echoes of the early problems at Cincinnati. But I wonder why they only started mating her with Andalas in 2016 and what was happening before that?

Also, I think maybe Ratu just wasn't ready to mate again for some reason not connected with the Andalas/Rosa situation. They could try Harapan instead to give him some experience.
 
Pertinax said:
This does fill in some of the gaps. Rosa's seven non-viable embryos have echoes of the early problems at Cincinnati.
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Yes i thought the same. Emi was given progesterone if I recall, which is how she bought her three surviving pregnancies to term. I wonder why that wasn't tried with Rosa? It appears instead they reverted back to trying to breed Andalas and Ratu. At this stage I imagine they are trying to strike a balance between breeding Rosa for the fresh genetics but also continuing to get as many calves as possible from their proven breeder Ratu. There must be something behavioural stopping them from introducing Harapan to either cow right now.
 
toothlessjaws said:
. I wonder why that wasn't tried with Rosa? It appears instead they reverted back to trying to breed Andalas and Ratu. At this stage I imagine they are trying to strike a balance between breeding Rosa for the fresh genetics but also continuing to get as many calves as possible from their proven breeder Ratu. There must be something behavioural stopping them from introducing Harapan to either cow right now.
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Yes, presumably the Cincinnati team are still involved in some capacity. It should also be possible to try to breed from both females simultaneously, even with only one bull present, whereas they have two.
 
toothlessjaws said:
For those of you frustrated with the lack of information from IRF and others. Here is a nice article that actually describes whats been going on at the SRS for the last couple of years. Explains the lack of births. I had no idea Rosa had been pregnant this many times.

Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
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I'm glad the following article provides an explanation as to the lack of reproduction at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in the past couple of years.

It was uplifting to learn that attempts to breed Andalas and Rosa have been successful. However, it was saddening to learn that Rosa miscarried in the early stages of pregnancy due to blighted ova. Since Rosa is capable of becoming pregnant but unable to develop a viable embryo, there are a few questions I have about Rosa's reproduction and Sumatran rhino reproduction, in general. Did Rosa remain with Andalas after initially mating as Sumatran rhinos are induced ovulators? Does Rosa have reproductive problems that are inhibiting her from developing a viable fetus? Has Rosa been prescribed hormone supplements, like the ones prescribed to Ratu and Emi during their pregnancies, to maintain gestation? How early in the pregnancy does a captive Sumatran rhino need to take hormone supplements to ensure the pregnancy is carried to term?

It was reassuring to learn that attempts were made in 2018 to breed Ratu and Andalas. However, it was disheartening to learn that Ratu refused to mate with him. Because Ratu had a four-year gap between Andatu and Delilah's birth, I was optimistic that she would produce another calf in 2020. Unfortunately, that won't be the case. Hopefully, Ratu will accept Andalas to mate with her again and, in a couple of years, the pair will produce their third calf. If the SRS is unable to breed Andalas and Ratu in a timely manner, would they consider attempting artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization to impregnate Ratu?
 
Sarus Crane said:
Also I thought Myanmar's political situation has made it difficult for scientists and researchers to access the country and conduct surveys to see what wildlife still lives there.
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Although there may be more hope for smaller organisms, such as the Pink-Headed Duck you mentioned and the Arakan Forest Turtle @Coelacanth18 mentioned, I think there is much less hope for larger organisms.
The few expeditions that have occurred within the last decade and a half have proved somewhat unsuccessful in terms of finding larger mammals such as tigers, elephants and rhinos - the documentary Wild Burma shows how depleted much of the forest is of such animals and how common poaching and capturing practices are across the country. This is mainly due the country's close proximity to China, creating a demand for animal products of which Rhino horn is highly prized. Animals including lorises, pangolins, cranes, macaques, civets, muntjacs, tigers and leopards are frequently traded. The town Mong La is renowned as a trading post on the Myanmar-Chinese border where illegal wildlife trading is common. Such illegal activities make it impossible to capture the extent to which wildlife is being captured and poached.
Given the significant presence of the wildlife trade, it would seem even more unlikely that there would be at most a viable population of any rhino species in Myanmar.
 
toothlessjaws said:
I'm not usually one to be optimistic with these things, and regarding rhino, i'm not.... BUT its worth mentioning: If Javan rhinos can survive all that time undetected in double the population, totally deforested, fragmented, bombed and land-mined VIETNAM ,then surely Burma isn't much of a stretch at all!
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Javan rhinos were found in Vietnam?
 
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