The Sumatran Rhinoceros could soon be extinct, and the possibility of that happening is very, very real.
Borneo Rhino Alliance’s (BORA) executive director Datuk Dr John Payne told Bernama that currently, there are only three rhinos remaining in Malaysia – a male and two females.
According to Dr John, illegal poaching had caused their number to diminish.
As a result, conservationists were racing against time to save the country’s remaining Sumatran rhinos.
“The three Sumatran rhinos left were caught and have been placed in captive breeding programmes until today,” he was quoted as saying.
However, Dr John believed that the In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) procedure among the remaining rhinos can save the dwindling population.
The next IVF process, Dr John told the news agency, would reportedly take place in November this year.
“BORA has been fighting an uphill battle trying to save Malaysia’s last Sumatran rhinos.
“The only way this could be done was to capture all the remaining specimens in the wild – which was a dangerous and costly operation and to breed them,” he was further quoted as saying.
Known solely as a solitary animal, the Sumatran Rhino is listed as the smallest type of rhinoceros in the world and the only Asian rhino with two horns.
