Rhino breeding facility urgently needed in Borneo

TABIN: There is now an urgent need to establish the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS) breeding facility.

The facility, expected to cost around RM8 million is needed badly, and while the government has agreed to its establishment in 2008, it has not been built yet, Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) Executive Director Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne said this to reporters visiting the interim facility on Thursday.

“I hope the capture of Puntung would prompt the government of Malaysia with renewed interest because we are in need of this proper long term breeding facility,” said Payne.

Puntung is a young Sumatran rhino that was captured on December 18, 2011, within the reserve itself and was moved to the interim facility next to the sole male rhino in captive, Tam, on Dec 25, last year.

“A tentative estimate of her age is 10 to 12 years old. She is feeding well and putting on weight,” he said.

Payne added that the capture of Puntung haD raised their hopes for survival of the species.

“What I can say at this stage is that we have a potentially fertile male, Tam, and a potentially fertile female, Puntung. So we are now presented with a potential that wasn’t there before, several years ago. If nothing else, it gives us something like the confidence element, not only for BORA but also the government, and that is something worth pursuing,” said Payne.

Without the facilities established, mating for Puntung and the sole male captive rhino on site, Tam, would have to take place in a small paddock between the night stall and the forest paddock, which Payne described, as tiny and not ideal.

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Capture of rare Sumatran rhino gives hope for species

Malaysian wildlife authorities said Monday the capture of a young female Borneo Sumatran rhino had given them a last chance to save the highly endangered species from extinction.

The female rhino, aged between 10 and 12 years old, was caught on December 18 and is being kept in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah on the Malaysian area of Borneo island where it is hoped it will breed with a lone captive male.

"All of us in Sabah are relieved that we have been able to capture this rhino after almost a year-and-a-half," Borneo Rhino Alliance director Junaidi Payne told AFP.

The female rhino, which has been named Puntung, was caught in a joint operation by the Borneo Rhino Alliance and the Sabah Wildlife Department.

"This is now the very last chance to save this species, one of the most ancient forms of mammal," Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, said in a statement.

Puntung had been specifically targeted since early 2010 as the mate for a 20-year-old, lone male rhino named Tam, who was rescued from an oil palm plantation in August 2008.

"It is an ideal age for breeding. Puntung and Tam are being kept in adjacent paddocks. They can see each other and there is some communication," Payne said.

Previous attempts in the 1980s and 1990s to breed Borneo Sumatran rhinos failed but Payne said he was "cautiously optimistic" the latest captive breeding programme would succeed.

The critically endangered Sumatran rhino is a mostly solitary animal except for courtship and rearing young.

Payne said the main threat to the survival of species "is there are so few and they do not mate in the wild."

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Christmas miracle – healthy female rhino found in Tabin

LAHAD DATU: There was Christmas joy in the jungle yesterday as a healthy young female Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni) was safely translocated within the Tabin Wildlife Reserve (TWR).

The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) and the SWD’s special Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) captured the rhino, named Puntung, in a joint operation.

“This is a fantastic gift for our uphill battle in ensuring the survival of this truly unique species and wonderful timing with Christmas, a time to give thanks for our blessings,” said an elated Dr Laurentius Ambu, the director of SWD.

Capturing and translocating Puntung was done after months of observation and careful logistical planning to ensure her safety by the dedicated field staff of SWD, BORA and WRU.

“We have monitored her since 2007, and there is no sign that any other rhino has entered into her range in the past five years. This is a stark indication that so few rhinos remain that they are simply not meeting for reproduction,” elaborated Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne, executive director of BORA.

Puntung had been specifically targeted since early 2010 as the mate for a middle-aged, lone male rhino named Tam, who was rescued from an oil palm plantation in August 2008 and cared for since then in the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS).

“We know all too well that Sumatran rhinoceros is on the brink of extinction with only definite signs of breeding in the wild over the past decade in Sabah and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. However, this rate is still far too low to ensure its survival which is why we have initiated this captive breeding programme,” said Payne.

A key component of the State Action Plan to ensure the continued existence of the Sumatran rhino in Sabah includes captive breeding of the rhinos within a large enclosed area covering 20 hectares of natural forest located within TWR. This area is now known as the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS) and is managed by the State Government.

The BRS Programme is also in touch with a similar programme underway in Sumatra, Indonesia. While all possible efforts are being made to ensure that natural breeding is prioritised, advanced reproductive technologies, some yet to be developed, will be needed to boost the number of Sumatran rhinos being born as well.

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Sabah Government Extends Condolences Over Elephant Attack

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government today extended its condolences to the family of an Australian tourist who was gored to death by an elephant in Lahad Datu yesterday, and advised all quarters against pointing fingers over the incident.

"It is an unfortunate incident resulting in the loss of a young life. On behalf of the Sabah government, I would like to convey my heartfelt condolences to the parents and family of Jenna Donley," said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

Veterinarian Jenna O'Grady Donley, 26, was gored to death by a bull pygmy elephant at the Tabin Wildlife Sanctuary at about 8.30 am as she was taking photographs of the lone animal.

"I have just been informed by the management of the Tabin Wildlife Resort where Jenna was staying that they are doing everything they can to assist the family, and the Australian High Commission is making arrangements to fly Jenna's body for burial in her hometown," Masidi said

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Family says Sydney woman killed by elephant in Borneo was 'gifted'

AN Australian woman who died after being gored by an elephant in Malaysia was a gifted veterinarian with a keen interest in wild animals, her mother says.

Sydney-based vet Jenna O'Grady Donley was attacked by a pygmy elephant in a remote wildlife park on the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo yesterday.

The 25-year-old was trekking with a friend and a local guide in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah state when the elephant turned on them.

Her mother Liz Donley said the sanctuary said it was a very unusual occurrence.

She said Jenna and her friend were very respectful of animals' environments but believed the group had startled the bull elephant.

"Bull elephants are fast, they can move with unpredictability, and they're aggressive and they're protective,'' Ms Donley told ABC radio today.

"This was an animal by itself and they startled it.

"This is an accident that's happened, a very tragic accident.''

Her daughter had a keen interest in large animals and had volunteered in Africa to help injured animals at a wildlife sanctuary.

She had recently completed a thesis on renal failure in big cats, which her mother said would hopefully assist in finding a cure.

"Jenna was a very gifted child in the veterinary science field,'' Ms Donley said.

"Like a lot of the students that attend veterinary science they have to have a mixture of passion, intelligence and a complete devotion to the health of animals.''

Ms Donley said losing her only child at the age of 25 was difficult but she hoped Jenna's work would leave a lasting legacy.

"It has happened and from that we have to move on with a positive note - that from Jenna's work and from the type of person that she was, we know that she had many friends, good family - and someone else now will take on that research and continue it.''

One of young vet's university internship supervisors, Edla Arzey, said she had great potential.

"She was a very talented student, she was full of life, full of adventure, and this is what got her into trouble,'' Ms Arzey told AAP.

"She was doing something she really wanted to do, she was certainly enjoying everything here, interested in absolutely everything

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Sabah leads global bid to save rhinos

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia, represented by the Wildlife Department in Sabah, is leading a worldwide bid to save the Sumatran rhinoceros that are in serious danger of extinction.

Dr Laurentius Nayan Ambu, director of the department, has been appointed chairman of the Global Sumatran Rhinoceros Management and Propagation Board (GMPB) for the next five years, a post previously held by Indonesia.

By virtue of the fact that Indonesia and Malaysia are the only two countries where this rare animal is found, they are known as the range states and considered the leading countries on the board of this global body.

Laurentius told the Borneo Post in an interview here that there are not more than 350 of this specie of rhinoceros left on earth and there are no more than 50 of them in Malaysia.

“To be exact, there are no more than 30 in fragmented areas, mainly in the Tabin and the Danum Valley in the Lahad Datu district of Sabah,” he added.

“These are the two areas we surveyed that have a good number of rhinos left, the bulk of rhinos in Sabah.

“The rest are in the interior, like the Tungod area, the Yayasan Sabah’s timber concession areas and some forest reserves in central Sabah.”

Elaborating on his role as GMPB chairman, Laurentius said:

“I am spearheading the movement. That means I talk to the Indonesian authorities on what they are doing there. I call on them every now and then to see what’s going on in Indonesia and find out what help do they need.”

He pointed out that there are only two captive breeding sites in the world – one in Indonesia and the other in Malaysia.

The one in Indonesia is located at Waykambas, Bogor, on Sumatra Island. This is where they keep their captive rhinos. The one for Malaysia is in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

“These are the two Sumatran rhinoceros breeding centres in the world. My duty is to call on the technical experts on the board, representatives of the donor countries and try to work out how to support these two breeding centres.

“The other breeding centre is at the Cincinnati Zoo. They took the Sumatran rhinos from Indonesia. That one is captive, whilst the ones in Malaysia and Indonesia are in semi-wild conditions.”

Laurentius disclosed that a rhino conservation workshop, held two years ago, passed a resolution saying that an active intervention had to be taken to save the rhinos.

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Sumatran Rhinos Not Extinct But Face Bleak Prospects

TUARAN -- Despite all the odds against the Sumatran rhinoceros, the species "stubbornly refuses to go extinct", an official here said.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Nayan Ambu said this was the main good news derived from the first day of the Sumatran rhinoceros Global Management and Propagation Board meeting held here.

He said there were still Sumatran rhinos in the same protected areas which were their strongholds in 1995, namely in Bukit Barisan Selatan, Way Kambas and Gunung Leuser in Sumatra, Indonesia, and Danum Valley and the Tabin Wildlife reserve, both in Sabah.

"Also potentially a good news is we can confirm that the Sumatran and Borneo rhinos are genetically close. We may be confident that mixing the two for breeding does have scientific backing.

"In any case, we know that pregnancy in the Sumatran rhino is likely to be the best way to prevent the reproductive tract pathologies which afflict this species," he said at dinner in conjunction with the meeting here, Tuesday night.

The two-day meeting from Tuesday, is the first GMPB meeting to be held in Malaysia, and represents the first international meeting of Sumatran rhino experts to be held in Sabah since 1995.

Laurentius said however that the prospects for the Sumatran rhino remain bleak, where their population in the wild appeared to continue to decline or at best, not increasing despite the best efforts to protect their habitat as well as the rhinos.

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Sime Darby key to setting up the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary

KOTA KINABALU: Yayasan Sime Darby has emerged a key player in assisting efforts to set up the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve over the last three years.

The foundation has contributed RM5mil towards the development of Borneo Rhino Sanctuary as well as provide additional funds for management of wildlife in Tabin Wildlife.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said that support by the private sector played an important role in the conservation of the Sumatran rhinos whose last known remaining populations were in the Danum Valley and Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the Lahad Datu district.

He said the Government had outlined several steps towards helping in the survival of the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros.

The first need is to prevent the poaching and illegal trapping of Sabah’s remaining wild rhinos.

The second need is to bring the few remaining rhinos which are not breeding to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, a managed fenced facility being developed at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

“The people who will be protecting, monitoring, rescuing and caring for rhinos need a comfortable place to stay as well,” he said in thanking Yayasan Sime Darby and other partners in helping provide basic facilities for the area.

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Female Sumatran Rhinoceros translocated to Tabin Wildlife Reserve

TABIN (Lahad Datu): The only female Sumatran Rhinoceros kept in captivity at the Lokawi Wildlife Park was safely translocated to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, near here yesterday.

Gelegub, the 28-year-old rhino, is now part of the Borneo Rhino Conservation Programme also known as the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary Programme in Tabin. The aim of the programme is to ward off the extinction of the species which now numbers at less than 50 in the wild.

The rhino underwent a 12-hour journey from the Lokawi Wildlife Park to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, leaving the park at 6.30pm on Tuesday and arriving at about 6am yesterday. She was accompanied by a convoy headed by the Park’s Veterinarian, Dr Roza Sipangkui, staff of the Sabah Wildlife Department’s (SWD) Wildlife Rescue Unit and its veterinarians. They were also assisted by police.

Gelegub has been placed at the Lokawi Wildlife Park for the last three years prior to the move.

Sabah Wildlife Department Director, Dr Laurentius Ambu said that the decision to move Gelegub was made after consulting with rhino experts in the country as well as from abroad.

“The threat of extinction on the rhino is imminent, with less than 50 left in the wild presently and mainly in fragmented forest,” he said.

He said that SWD are working together with the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Liebniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research and Liepzig Zoo with the effort to rescue the rhinos at these fragmented forest and bring them to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (BRS) where they can meet and mate naturally.

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