A new study that has raised concerns unveils that Sumatran rhinos have become extinct in Malaysian jungles. With less than one hundred rhinos present in the Indonesian wildlife and only nine in captivity, their future does not seem that bright, researchers say.
WHAT CAUSED THE SUMATRAN RHINOS’ EXTINCTION?
Scientists reported that the extinction is primarily caused by consistent poaching of rhinos, destruction of natural habitat, and inability of the animals to reproduce within a closely-knit herd. The only rhinos left in the wild are in Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra. Despite the decades of conservation efforts, the numbers are low and continue to decline.
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According to their study, the separate populations amidst which Indonesian rhinos spread currently number at three and the one of them has experienced a considerable fall in its extent.
“It is vital for the survival of the species that all remaining Sumatran rhinos are viewed as a metapopulation, meaning that all are managed in a single program across national and global borders in order to maximise overall birth rate,” lead author of the study and PhD student, Rasmus Gren Havmøller says. “This includes the individuals now held in captivity.”
PROTECTIVE MEASURES
Researchers have already suggested the creation of ‘management zones’, in which rhinos will be free to move under protection. In April 2013, at the Sumatran Rhino Crisis Summit in Singapore, these ‘management zones’ were proposed as one of the must-do strategies, but this conservation is awaiting political assent.
The researchers note that rhinos are thretened by poachers, who seek out their horns to meet the demand of the Asian black market. As Havmøller said this means that some kind of intervention is needed more than ever because “all known wild and captive populations are in an extinction vortex.”
NEED OF SERIOUS EFFORTS BY THE GOVERNMENT
Since 1984, 45 Sumatran rhinos were taken into the wild, but as of yet only four Sumatran rhinoceroses were born in captivity. Five of the captive rhinos live in Indonesia’s Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, while three more reside in a facility in Malaysia’s Sabah State.
Researchers claim that the government of Indonesia must bolster rhino protection by using measures like Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ), habitat management, captive breeding and an intensive survey of the currently known habitats.
