JAKARTA: To help save Indonesia’s critically endangered rhinoceros, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) in West Java is developing assisted reproductive technology (ART) and a genetic biobank through its School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (SKHB).
ART refers to a set of medical and scientific techniques used to help animals or humans reproduce, particularly when natural reproduction is difficult or no longer possible. These methods include artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization (IVF), embryo transfer and sperm and egg cryopreservation.
According to IPB’s ART specialist Muhammad Agil, the technology is crucial to saving Indonesia's two critically endangered rhino species, the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), both of which face shrinking populations and severely limited genetic diversity, leaving them highly susceptible to disease and reproductive failure.
“More than 70 per cent of Sumatran rhinos rescued between 1980 and 1990 suffer from reproductive organ dysfunction, such as tumours, making natural reproduction extremely difficult,” he said recently.
“Meanwhile, Javan rhinos possess only two genetic haplotypes. Without intervention, the species could face extinction within the next 50 years,” Agil added.
A haplotype is a group of genes inherited together from a single parent. Having only a few haplotypes means the entire population of Javan rhinos likely descends from just a small number of ancestors.
This low genetic diversity increases their risk of extinction because they can't adapt well or overcome inherited health problems.
Agil highlighted successful conservation efforts with the northern white rhino in Kenya and the black-footed ferret in the United States.
Using advanced assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as embryo transfer, artificial insemination and cloning, researchers were able to revive species once declared extinct in the wild.
“We aim to replicate that success with the Javan and Sumatran rhinos. Currently, the IPB team is collecting sperm, eggs and skin cells from Sumatran rhinos to develop stem cells and artificial gametes,” Agil explained.
Stem cells are special cells that can be reprogrammed to develop into sperm or egg cells known as artificial gametes, offering a breakthrough method to breed endangered animals that can no longer reproduce naturally.
IPB has also requested genetic material of Javan and Sumatran rhinos stored in frozen zoos at Osaka University and several museums across Europe, including those in Berlin, Copenhagen, Brussels, Belgium, the Netherlands and Adelaide, Australia, to support their research.
“We hope to receive full support from the government and international partners to ensure that research and technology development for breeding Javan and Sumatran rhinos can be carried out here in Indonesia,” Agil said.
Authorities estimate that only around 82 Javan rhinos remain in Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten, their last stronghold, while the World Wide Fund for Nature estimates fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos survive worldwide, mainly in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Indonesian scientists are increasingly using assisted reproductive technology (ART) to help conserve endangered animals.
Last month, the veterinary team at Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI) Bogor, in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW Berlin), performed an artificial insemination procedure on a pair of giant pandas, Cai Tao and Hu Chun, in an effort to achieve the first panda birth in Indonesia.
The two pandas arrived in 2017 as a symbol of friendship between Indonesia and China. Reproducing giant pandas is known to be one of the biggest challenges in conservation. Female pandas are fertile only once a year, with a very short fertile period of just two-three days.
The egg remains viable for only a few hours, which makes natural breeding success rates very low.
Taman Safari has been working to breed giant pandas through artificial insemination since 2022, but the efforts have yet to produce a successful birth.
In 2024, the programme marked a significant milestone when fertilisation was confirmed 40 days after the procedure, however, the embryo failed to develop fully.
If the most recent insemination attempt succeeds, Indonesia will join Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as the only South-East Asian countries to have successfully bred a panda through artificial insemination.
According to the latest data from the National Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, the wild population of giant pandas is estimated at only around 1,860 individuals, with an additional 700 living in captivity across various parts of the world. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
