Force for the Forest

Keeping the last lowland SE Asian rainforest safe.

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A rare Sumatran rhino in an Indonesian wildlife sanctuary will give birth in May to only the fourth calf of the endangered species born in captivity in more than a century, a scientist said Thursday.

The wild Indonesian-born mother, Ratu, was mated with Cincinnati Zoo-born Andalas, who nine years ago became the first of three rhinos born in captivity in the past 112 years, International Rhino Foundation executive director Susie Ellis said.

The calf is due to be born in a wildlife reserve on Sumatra island on May 11 after a 15-month pregnancy, Ellis said.

Andalas was moved in 2007 from the Los Angeles Zoo, where he grew up, to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary where he was gradually introduced to his mate.

The wild Sumatran rhino population has more than halved in the past 15 years and now numbers about 200, Ellis said. Another 10 live in captivity, including five in the 250-acre (100-hectare) Sumatran sanctuary, which is funded by the foundation.

That’s the recent press release and we are delighted to hear about the pregnancy.  Even though the entire programme has been judged a failure (not by us, but by many conservationists).

Andalas was the first Sumatran Rhino born in captivity for 112 years and the result of a scheme in which 40 captive rhinos were taken into captivity for breeding.  At the time, I was very much in favour of this solution, however I was wrong.  They failed to breed and more than 75% died.  7 were sent to the US, three survived and they finally cracked the breeding program, with Andalas born in 2001, Suci in 2004 and Harry in 2007, all in Cincinnati Zoo with the help of special hormone treatments.  The ones in a Malaysian  centre all died, a disease outbreak killing the last ones in 2004.

Three births from 1 female, from 40 specimens taken from the wild, with more than 30 premature deaths.

Back in 1990 we had 100 rhinos in Leuser, while a large reserve in central Sumatra had 500.  Fast forward to the present and in Leuser we have 120 rhino, an EXCELLENT return considering the slow reproduction rate (about 3 years per baby per mum) while unfortunately the other reserve lost all their rhinos by 2001.  In fact, while there is the odd rhino scattered around the rest of the island (they are pretty much certainly gone from Malaysia and Borneo), there aren’t enough to make breeding populations outside of Leuser.

Again, we come back to the one proven way of saving the animals – save the forests.  Get the legislation in place, get the population behind you, patrol the forest, good ties with the police.  Get the police to make the arrests and ensure the poachers go to court.

This may sound simple but it involves huge amounts of work.  And funding.  It is not glamorous work, no running firefights with poachers, no cuddling cute animals, but it WORKS.

This is how Leuser was saved and it is the reason it is the only successful reserve in the area.  We need other conservation organisations to learn from Leuser and replicate it.

Rex Sumner

One Response

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1. 

   pate

   this is excellent news and am very happy to read that leuser has actually increased it’s rhino population. and again we need people to realize that conservation of the little amount of forest we have left is the only way to stop theses marvelous species going extinct.

   February 23, 2010 at 10:35 pm