Rare Baby Sumatran Rhino Born Bringing ‘New Hope’ for the Critically Endangered Species
To the joy of conservationists, a female Sumatran rhino has just been born in a captive-breeding program in Indonesia.
A rare Sumatran rhino has been born in Indonesia, bringing hope for the species that is struggling for survival.
The female rhino calf was born on Thursday at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra's Lampung Province, according to Indonesia's Ministry of Environment.
The birth brings the total number of Sumatran rhinos residing at the sanctuary to eight and marks a ‘momentous occasion’ for conservationists working to bring the endangered animal back from the brink of extinction.
"The birth of this Sumatran rhino is such happy news amid the government's and partners' efforts to increase the population," Wiratno, a director-general of conservation at Indonesia's environment ministry, said in a statement Monday.
The newborn’s mother, Rosa, was captured from the forests of Sumatra’s Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park for a breeding program in 2005 and has previously miscarried eight pregnancies. The father, Andatu, was the first rhino ever born in captivity in Indonesia.
"Rosa's pregnancy represents new hope for this critically endangered species," said Nina Fascione, the executive director of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF). "This is a momentous occasion for a critically imperiled species. We share the excitement of this birth with the world!"
Standing between 3.3 - 5 feet, Sumatran rhinos are the smallest of all rhinoceroses and they have a lifespan of around 35 - 40 years. They were once found across south and southeast Asia, from the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Bhutan to eastern India, through Myanmar, Thailand, and possibly to Vietnam and China. Now, the species is critically endangered with less than 80 individuals remaining in the wild in small fragmented habitats on the island of Sumatra and nearby Borneo.
In 2017, rhino conservation experts and the Indonesian government concluded that the only way to save the species was through a captive breeding program. The move was similar to an initiative launched in the 1980s that saw 40 Sumatran rhinos captured for breeding. But in this case, nearly half of the captive animals had died by 1995 and not a single calf had been born.
Multiple threats have decimated the species over the years, including poaching, habitat loss, and climate catastrophe.
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