It is more or less confirmed there may be as few as 70-85 Sumatran rhinos overall globally, with the greater portion in 3 wildlife reserves on Sumatera!
Sumatran Rhino news thread
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Lemurs
Well-Known Member
Horrible news but sadly inevitable... What's happened and is happening to Sumatran Rhinos genuinely upsets me. They are such gentle, endearing and unique animals. I'm really lucky to have seen (and heard) a couple in captivity.
I've always wanted to make my own "last chance to see" tours where I go out and look for animals (in the wild or captivity) that are at high risk for going extinct soon. If I ever have the money for this trip, I'm definitely going to see this rhino.
I really think this species is doomed now, if not within my lifetime, certainly within that of considerably younger members on here. Despite some advances in breeding etc, extinction seems to be happening before our very eyes. There seem to be too many different attitudes to the best ways forward and too little progress being made. Whether or not the advances in science which may allow surrogacy in the non-reproductive females etc will be perfected in time to be able to help save it remains to be seen. But without this I think they have very little chance at all.
To me it seems rather the same powerless feeling the minority of scientists and conservationists in Tasmania must have felt when they foresaw the Thylacine's imminent extinction.
Lemurs
Well-Known Member
I completely agree – extinct within 50 years, probably less. It is so damn frustrating because like you say, organisations and governing bodies are working against each other rather than together. How selfish and short-sighted when you are dealing with one of the world’s most endangered animals.
They are so unique and enchanting too. Whilst stereotypical images of rhinos would be of charging, power and strength, Sumatrans love nothing more than a mud bath and make these funny high pitched, squeaking sounds. Part of the problem too is that they prefer lowland areas to steep hills in rainforest – these places are obviously more accessible for poachers.
That they are close to extinction because of keratin, the same material as our fingernails, totally sickens me.
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If the world's total number is down to 70-85 animals and still declining, its future seems grim. While conservation miracles have happened with smaller populations than that, the abysmal breeding success in the last 50 years up to the present day does not bode well for one of those miracles to occur. And nobody wants to pull the remaining animals out of the wild as part of a last-ditch breeding effort, because the last time they tried that it was pretty much a complete failure and just acted as a catalyst for the animal's decline.
As dark silver a lining as it may be, perhaps the extinction of a prominent species of large mammal will help open people's eyes to the reality of extinction in the modern era. I hope, if nothing else, that the plight of the Sumatran rhino will serve as a reminder to the world that survival is never guaranteed, and that this news could save further species from extinction in the future.
As dark silver a lining as it may be, perhaps the extinction of a prominent species of large mammal will help open people's eyes to the reality of extinction in the modern era. I hope, if nothing else, that the plight of the Sumatran rhino will serve as a reminder to the world that survival is never guaranteed, and that this news could save further species from extinction in the future.
Possibly. The Sumantran rhino isn't a super well-known animal, but if it goes extinct it will probably get a lot of attention like the baiji did. Large animals don't go extinct every day, after all.
There have been improvements in breeding/husbandry since then, at both Cincinnati and Way Kambas, though sadly there is still very little to show for this. Regarding removing any further animals from the wild, the problem seems to be identifying any reproductively suitable females as that is what is needed uppermost for any further captive breeding.
Having said that, one of the two in this category at Way Kambas (Rosa) still has not bred, and even the one that has had a calf (Ratu) seems afaik not to be pregnant or been mated again since then. So there are evidently still logistical problems surrounding the existing captive situation, mainly it seems regarding cultural differences on management techniques, and until they are shown to be solved, adding any further captives seems a total waste(IMO).
If Sumatran Rhino becomes extinct, scientists might say 'well, we pulled all the stops out to try and save it, but there were too many differences of opinion on how to do it, and meanwhile it slipped into oblivion'.
That's true, Pertinax. I may have been quick to pronounce it a complete failure; it wasn't that they didn't learn anything about proper species husbandry from it, but the progress came so late into the project, after they'd already lost nearly all of their individuals, that it now seems of little use. There are some great stories about endangered animals being recovered from the brink of extinction via ex situ, but the Sumatran rhino is not one of those.
I agree with you, I wasn't really defending it as it was an abject failure in all ways except one-the succesful breeding breakthrough at Cincinatti and so many animals were lost before that happened it doesn't really balance out at all.
Lemurs
Well-Known Member
Attention in Europe and North America but not in China, Vietnam etc where the demand is.
Pootle
Well-Known Member
Whilst watching Nigel Marven’s Rhino program over the weekend I was hit with a reality check on how much things have changed since this was filmed (2005/06) For those who have not seen it, he breaks the rhino down into the 5 species everyone is familiar with, ie White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan. What was worrying watching this for me is that rhinos (all, maybe bar Indian) seem to be in a far worse state in 2015 than what they were 10 years ago. The program details the success with stopping poaching in Africa especially (how things have deteriorated in recent years). Breeding programs for Sumatran rhinos (footage from Cincinnati Zoo Nigel Marven the link shows some photos that may be of interest) which puts across to the viewer that the future of the species is heading in the right direction. The program then shows footage of a Javan rhino, I have seen the same footage on various programs – there is so little footage many of us have seen all there is to see sadly
After watching the program, the first thing I did was look for what year it was made and seeing it was 2006 when released, it is very disappointing to see over the last decade how poaching has risen, breeding programs have been unsuccessful or under funded. If I recall correctly the number of Sumatran rhinos mentioned in this program was more than double current estimates. Unless changes occur we could realistically be looking at ‘unofficial extinction’ of the Sumatran within as little as 5 + years.
After watching the program, the first thing I did was look for what year it was made and seeing it was 2006 when released, it is very disappointing to see over the last decade how poaching has risen, breeding programs have been unsuccessful or under funded. If I recall correctly the number of Sumatran rhinos mentioned in this program was more than double current estimates. Unless changes occur we could realistically be looking at ‘unofficial extinction’ of the Sumatran within as little as 5 + years.
Unfortunately, @Lemurs, this might not even have the desired "rousing" effect in the Western World, as currently indicated by the declining numbers of the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise.
If at all, the extinction of a rhino species might even trigger a stronger demand for the horns of the remaining rhino species. And hardly anyone outside the rhino conservation community batted an eye when the Western black rhino was declared extinct four years ago...
If at all, the extinction of a rhino species might even trigger a stronger demand for the horns of the remaining rhino species. And hardly anyone outside the rhino conservation community batted an eye when the Western black rhino was declared extinct four years ago...
Not saying this as a contradiction, but the Western black rhino was a subspecies of the black rhino. IMO there's a noteworthy difference between the extinction of an entire species and the extinction of one genetically distinct population, and I think the extinction of the Sumatran rhinoceros would garner a lot more media attention.
Also, if rhino populations are put under further pressure in the near future, it's a good thing that black, white, and Indian rhinos all have sizable captive populations. Not a guarantee of survival, obviously, but they're in a much better position than the Sumatran is right now.
Someone really should have looked at the date of production before this was retransmitted. To the casual viewer it really does give a gross misrepresentation of the current state of all rhino species.
Coupled with that is the fact that population estimates tend to be slashed every so often- 400 or so suddenly becomes 75 etc, so its quite likely the next population estimate will see yet another drastic reduction.
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Given that roughly 99% of the human population, including the majority of journalists and other media representatives, fail to distinguish the difference between a species and a subspecies, I somehow doubt that...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of the ex-situ rhino breeding populations is truly self-sustainable.
Given that roughly 99% of the human population, including the majority of journalists and other media representatives, fail to distinguish the difference between a species and a subspecies, I somehow doubt that...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of the ex-situ rhino breeding populations is truly self-sustainable.
99%? That seems exaggerated, but I understand your point. I still think that more media attention (not necessarily a lot, but more) would be given to the extinction of an entire species of large mammal, especially if it's a "last animal alive dies" situation, rather than decades of waiting for another confirmed sighting before finally deciding that it's extinct.
I don't know if the populations are "truly" self-sustainable. I do know that their captive populations are exponentially larger than that for the Sumatran rhino, which gives them a much better chance of becoming self-sustainable if they aren't already. And the captive breeding rates with those species currently, I believe, are higher than the rates have ever been for Sumatrans.
A little off topic but can someone please tell me the living Rhino subspecies?