The high demand for rhinoceros horns on the Asian black market or poaching have been the main reasons why the Sumatran rhinoceros in the wild ( Dicerorhinus sumatrensis ) has been officially declared extinct in Malaysia. The study has been published in Oryx , the International Conservation Journal, by the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark).
Researchers, belonging to WWF, the International Rhino Foundation and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in charge of the World Red List of Threatened Species, have found that, despite efforts, since 2007 no have found signs of wild Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia. This means that the survival of the species now depends only on around 100 specimens in Indonesia and 9 in captivity .
“It is vital to the survival of the species that all the remaining Sumatran rhinos are seen as a metapopulation , which means that they are all managed in a single program across national and international borders in order to maximize the overall birth rate. . This includes specimens that are in captivity, ”explains Rasmus Gren Havmoller, study leader.
Of the nine rhinos that survive in captivity , three of them are in the Sabah facility (Malaysia), one is at the Cincinnati Zoo (USA) and another five remain in a sanctuary of the species in Sumatra ( Indonesia).
“The tiger in India was saved from extinction due to the direct intervention of Ms Gandhi, then Prime Minister, who established Project Tiger. A similar high-level intervention by President Joko Widodo of Indonesia could help save the Sumatran rhinos, ”says study co-author Christy Williams.
