Hope for saving the Sumatran rhino

KUALA LUMPUR: A collaboration between Malaysia and Indonesia to conserve the Sumatran rhinoceros is set to go forward as early as next month.

The decision came following a meeting between Indonesian and Malaysian government officials in Jakarta last Friday.

The Malaysian delegation, led by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew, also included senior officers from the ministry, as well as Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) executive director Dr John Payne and WWF-Malaysia conservation director Dr Henry Chan.At the meeting, Malaysian and Indonesian delegates outlined the technical details of the collaboration and set a timetable to move forward.

Indonesian Natural Resource and Ecosystem Conservation director-general Wiratno reaffirmed their commitment to proceed as soon as possible, pending any administrative and legal details that needed to be resolved.

“This visit was a positive one for rhino conservation in Malaysia and Indonesia as we are ready to move forward and work together, ” said Wiratno.

Separately, Liew said while both governments did their part to enable the collaboration to move forward, efforts to save Sumatran rhinos from disappearing required global support.Bora and SOS Rhino said the main reason captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos had failed was because infertile ones were captured over the past 40 years.

Dr Payne said assisted reproductive technology was vital so that the infertile and sub fertile rhinos could contribute their genomes to the survival of the species. — Bernama