Sumatran Rhino news thread

Daktari JG said:
The plan at least is good. if they ever get around to actually doing it
Sumatra survey looks to identify at-risk rhinos for captive breeding
Click to expand...

That is a pretty good gameplan, although I wonder if it'd be more productive to move most of the isolated rhinos into the main preserve to breed naturally with the larger population. Either way, I wonder how few rhinos will be left by the time they actually carry this plan out (if they ever carry this plan out).

~Thylo
 
I find the lack of reporting/updating on the issue by both the media but also NGO's involved really frustrating. The female captured in kalimantan has never been reported on again. Not a thing. Is the animal even alive? where is it? it was certainly not moved to Way Kambas (as would have been most logical).
 
toothlessjaws said:
I find the lack of reporting/updating on the issue by both the media but also NGO's involved really frustrating. The female captured in kalimantan has never been reported on again. Not a thing. Is the animal even alive? where is it? it was certainly not moved to Way Kambas (as would have been most logical).
Click to expand...
WWF helps create a groundbreaking plan to save Sumatran rhinos

From "Spring 2019" issue:

On November 25, 2018, a Sumatran rhino gazed up from a pit trap, her body caked in mud. For six months, a team of conservationists had been laboring to capture her in the remote rain forests of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. The team guided the rhino—which they named Pahu—into a crate and carefully transported her 93 miles to a sanctuary.

Pahu is now settling into her new home. She’ll need more time to acclimate there before scientists can determine whether she’s fertile. For now, simply getting her to the sanctuary safe and sound is a critical first step achieved.


Only a dozen Sumatran rhinos left in East Kalimantan, experts believe

This says she is at the Kelian Rhinoceros Conservation area.
 
Pertinax said:
They can't even agree to moving rhino semen from Sumatra to Borneo, let alone a whole animal between the two countries...
Click to expand...
Very different scenarios however. The semen request represents a transfer of material between two nations with frosty relations (Malaysia and Indonesia). Whereas transferring the live rhino captured in Kalimantan to Sumatra would just represent a transfer within provinces of the same nation (Indonesia). Remember Borneo is not a country, it's a landmass divided into various provinces, nations and states.
 
Last edited:
toothlessjaws said:
Very different scenarios however. The semen request represents a transfer of material between two nations with frosty relations (Malaysia and Indonesia). Whereas transferring the live rhino captured in Kalimantan to Sumatra would just represent a transfer within provinces of the same nation (Indonesia). Remember Borneo is not a country, it's a landmass divided into various provinces, nations and states.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are correct of course. So it should be easier to move her to Way Kambas which seems the obvious move. But there seems to have been no indication, at least so far, that this is the proposal?
 
Pertinax said:
Yes, you are correct of course. So it should be easier to move her to Way Kambas which seems the obvious move. But there seems to have been no indication, at least so far, that this is the proposal?
Click to expand...

I seem to recall a plan announced back when they first rediscovered rhinos in Kalimantan to capture and consolidate all of the remaining Borneans together in one place. At this point that's probably not the best move, though.

~Thylo
 
toothlessjaws said:
Agree, I think we are well past preserving the Bornean and Sumatran subspecies as pure animals. And whilst not ideal in terms of risk management I think the situation is so dire that for now absolutely every animal should be transferred to Way Kambas until more much stock is captured and assessed.
Click to expand...
I believe its already been agreed, in principal at least, that the situation is now so critical that the subspecies distinction be overlooked now.

I suppose a second option would be to transfer one of the males from Way Kambas(Harapan?) to the Kalimantan sanctuary where the new female is held, as there is nothing for him to achieve breeding-wise currently at WK. But the risk factor each time no doubt plays a lot in the decision-making.
 
Pertinax said:
I believe its already been agreed, in principal at least, that the situation is now so critical that the subspecies distinction be overlooked now.
Click to expand...

Yes, I read that also. Which is why it seems so counter-productive that they chose to keep the new captured female in Borneo. My understanding is that there is but a handful estimated to be left on the island. And of that, you'd have to expect more than half to be post-reproductive.

I'd be wasting zero time and moving animals straight to Way Kambas until its clear that they can get enough animals to establish a second sanctuary. It will take years to catch all the remaining wild rhinos in Indonesia.
 
This is an extremely frustrating situation. Rhinos are dying left and right for apparently no reason, and the government of Indonesia, who has jurisdiction over both these species, seems to be doing little besides euthanizing them.
 
It would appear that with the way things are currently going the cause of the extinction of this magnificent species will be down to endemic levels of petty bureaucratic intransigence from silly little men sat behind desks.

I know the situation is complicated and that this might be somewhat simplistic view , conservation is always complicated. But this kind of pathetic bickering has been going on for decades with regards to conserving the sumatran rhino and it is frankly killing it and attempts to conserve it like a cancerous tumour.

What an enfuriating and desperately sad state of affairs.
 
Listened to this podcast interview featuring the conservationist Dr Barney Long who works with the Sumatran rhino and the Saola earlier this year regarding the species.

There is quite a bit of information regarding both in-situ and ex-situ conservation mentioned in the programe , some of you may not have listened to it and so may find it interesting.

Episode 55: Sumatran Rhino Conservation w/Dr. Barney Long from All Creatures Podcast
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Listened to this podcast interview featuring the conservationist Dr Barney Long who works with the Sumatran rhino and the Saola earlier this year regarding the species.

There is quite a bit of information regarding both in-situ and ex-situ conservation mentioned in the programe , some of you may not have listened to it and so may find it interesting.

Episode 55: Sumatran Rhino Conservation w/Dr. Barney Long from All Creatures Podcast
Click to expand...

I am listening to it now. Interestingly he mentions having seen Javan rhino in the wild.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top