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The Sumatran rhino is one of the rarest large mammals on earth | © AFP/File | GOH CHAI HIN


Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhino dies: officials
Malaysia’s last surviving male Sumatran rhino died Monday, wildlife officials said, leaving behind only one female in the country and pushing the critically-endangered species closer to extinction.



Kuala Lumpur (AFP) |

Once found as far away as eastern India and throughout Malaysia, the Sumatran rhino has been almost wiped out, with fewer than 80 left, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Only a handful of the creatures remain in the wilds of Indonesia.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said the Malaysian male, Tam, had lived in a nature reserve on Borneo island.

The cause of the animal’s death was not immediately clear, but previous media reports have suggested it was suffering from kidney and liver problems.

Tam’s death puts pressure on an ongoing effort for conservationists hoping to use in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques to create offspring from Malaysia’s last female Sumatran rhino, Iman, and an Indonesian male.

Tuuga said there were problems with Iman’s uterus and that she was incapable of becoming pregnant, but was still able to produce eggs.

“We just have to look after the last remaining rhino. That’s all we can do, and try if possible to work with Indonesia,” he said.

© 2019 AFP

https://lowvelder.co.za/afp/733369/mala ... officials/

So tragic!

23.11.2019


The Sumatran rhino is down to fewer than 100 animals | AFP/GETTY/ANDREAS PUTRANTO

The Sumatran rhino is now officially extinct in Malaysia, with the death of the last known specimen.

The 25-year-old female named Iman died on Saturday on the island of Borneo, officials say. She had cancer.

Malaysia's last male Sumatran rhino died in May this year.

The Sumatran rhino once roamed across Asia, but has now almost disappeared from the wild, with fewer than 100 animals believed to exist. The species is now critically endangered.

Last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia dies

Iman died at 17:35 local time (09:35 GMT) on Saturday, Malaysia's officials said.

"Its death was a natural one, and the immediate cause has been categorised as shock," Sabah State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christine Liew is quoted as saying.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50531208

"Iman was given the very best care and attention since her capture in March 2014 right up to the moment she passed," she added.

Sumatran rhinos have been hard hit by poaching and habitat loss, but the biggest threat facing the species today is the fragmented nature of their populations.

Efforts to breed the species in Malaysia have so far failed.

Facts about the Sumatran rhino

- Five rhino species can be found today, two in Africa and three in Asia

- The Asian species include the Sumatran rhino, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, which is the smallest living rhino species

- The animal is closely related to the woolly rhinoceros, which became extinct about 10,000 years ago

- No more than 100 Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild (some estimates put the number as low as 30), scattered on the islands of Sumatra, Indonesia