Sumatran rhino extinct in Sabah wild

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s Sumatran rhino population has dwindled to just three specimens in captivity, with the animal considered extinct in the wild.

More critically, the two females are unable to bear young.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said there was no indication of any more Sumatran rhinos in the jungles of Sabah.

He said he remained hopeful that breeding efforts using in vitro fertilisation would eventually pay off.

“I am by nature an optimist and always try to see the positive side of every issue,” he added.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said one of the rhinos in captivity, a female called Puntung, was suffering from a life-threatening infection.

Puntung, a male called Tam and another female, Iman, were being cared for by NGO Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the east coast of Lahad Datu district.

Tuuga said they were counting on wildlife veterinarian Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, who has cared for Puntung since her capture in 2011, to cure the rhino.

Wildlife experts’ attempts to get Puntung to mate with Tam proved unsuccessful as she was found to have an array of cysts lining her uterus. The cysts, which are resistant to treatment, make her unable to sustain a pregnancy.

Bora executive director Dr Junaidi Payne said the loss of Puntung would be a tragedy as the 25-year-old rhino could still produce eggs for a few more years.

Sabah wildlife officials captured Iman in 2014 but she was also found to have severe uterine fibroids.

As such, in vitro fertilisation appears to be the best option to perpetuate the species.

Attempts at creating rhino embryos in vitro have been made by Prof Thomas Hildebrandt and a team of specialists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Re­­search in Germany, Prof Cesare Gal­li of Avantea laboratories in Italy, and Prof Arief Boediono of Insti­tut Pertanian Bogor in Indo­nesia.

If successful, embryos could be offered to Indonesia for implantation into female rhino surrogate mothers in Sumatra.