Sumatran Rhino On The Brink Of Extinction
The Sumatran rhino is very near extinction according to a leading conservation organisation. There are less than 100 of the animals left on Indonesian island of Sumatra’s rainforests and the Kalimantan province of Borneo. It has been nearly two years since the last Sumatran Rhino was spotted in the Sabah region of Borneo and experts have now declared the species extinct in Malaysia. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is now warning the future is far from bright for the fate of the species which could become extinct without urgent action.
“It takes the rhino down to a single country,” said Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN’s species survival commission. “With the ongoing poaching crisis, escalating population decline and destruction of suitable habitat, extinction of the Sumatran rhino in the near future is becoming increasingly likely.”
Only 200 rhinos left
It is estimated that the Sumatran rhino has seen is population halve in just the last decade. The last census took place in 2008 and it estimated the number of Sumatran rhinos at roughly 250. Mr. Stuart says that with the benefit of hindsight, the true number was probably about 200. Poachers hunt these animals for their horn which is much more valuable than the horns of African rhinos.
“For hundreds of years, we’ve been unable to stem the decline of this species. That’s due to poaching. It’s due to the fact they get to such a low density the animals don’t find each other and they don’t breed. It’s due to the fact that if the females don’t breed regularly, they develop these tumours in their reproductive tract that render them infertile,” he said.
Political and financial commitment required
Mr. Stuart says that a good plan has been developed on how to save the Sumatran rhino however Indonesia needs to make a political commitment and international donors need to finance it. The strategy includes a survey that would accurately identify the remaining animals and bring them together to help them breed and ensure they are protected from poachers with military like levels of security.
“It’s a fantastic animal. It’s the weirdest of all the rhinos. They meow like a cat,” Stuart said. “No one is going to get rich on Sumatran rhinos other than those illegally trading in the horn. There are frankly no economic benefits to saving it, it’s just a moral obligation.”
