Sumatran Rhino Rescued in Sabah
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 24th, 2008
In you go: Rangers coaxing the rhino to get into the crate before it was transported to a wildlife reserve in Sabah
A critically endangered male Sumatran Rhinoceros was rescued and transferred to a wildlife reserve in a two-week operation in the east coast of Sabah.
The rhino, a species on the brink of extinction, was found wandering at an oil palm plantation neighbouring a forest area in Sabah’s east coast on Aug 5 when the Sabah Wildlife Department launched the rescue.
“It was obvious that the rhino was injured to some degree as it left its forest to a flat terrain of the oil palm plantation,” Dr Senthilvel Nathan, the department’s chief field veterinarian said yesterday.
Dr Senthilvel, who headed the rescue operation, said no sedatives were used on the rhino.
He and veterinarian Dr Roza Sipagkui assessed the rhino’s health before allowing its transfer via a four-hour road journey to Tabin.
“It was a delicate operation as we had to make sure that the rhino was not stressed out,” he said.
Rangers and veterinarians stayed close to the rhino for 10 days to habituate their presence to it before getting close enough to check its condition and prepare it for the journey.
The rangers were supported by experts from SOS Rhino Borneo and WWF Malaysia.
The department’s director, Lautentius Ambu, thanked Unico Estate general manager Chew Beng Hock and Temenggong Estate manager Gucharan Singh for informing and assisting the department in transporting the rhino.
Source: Malaysian Star, Sunday, 24 August 2008
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Now this is truly a rare find! The latest Sumatran rhino count estimated only about 200 to 300 or so individuals with only a few in captivity. The only rhino that’s smaller in number is the Javan rhino with about 60-70 individuals left making it one of the rarest large mammals in the world. The question I’m wondering is, if these animals can remain elusive (sometimes years between sightings) in the rainforests of southeast Asia, who says that there can’t be any equally fascinating (although unknown) animals left in the world? Remember, the Javan rhino can weigh two tons or more and they’re hardly ever seen.
Good point Quakerhead.
The Sasquatch might be even smarter than most large animals so that could give it a better chance of hiding.
Hope they check it out medically before it is released back into the healthy rhino population. It could have some problem that could kill off the healthy others.
I read in an article on Mongobay recently that there are parts of southeastern Asia where one can drive for as long as five hours and see literally nothing but oil palms on plantations. That kind of intensive single-species agriculture has to be impacting wildlife. I’m glad that this rhino was rescued but I wonder how many more may have fallen victime to destruction of their natural habitat.
Oops, I forgot to reference the link where I saw the story. Here it is: http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0805-sanderson_interview.html