A rare Sumatran rhino was born in an Indonesian reserve, environmental officials said, in a victory for the critically endangered species.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Environment, the mother of a newborn Sumatran rhino, called Rosa, gave birth to the female calf in captivity at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary located in Wai Kambas National Park in Lampung Province.
The World Wildlife Fund, a critically endangered species, says there are only about 80 Sumatran rhinos left. Once found across Southeast Asia, today the rest are found on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
The rare birth brought the total number of Sumatran rhino in the reserve to eight, and raised hope for the species.
“The birth of the Sumatran rhino is good news amid the efforts of the Indonesian government and its partners to increase the Sumatran rhino population,” said Wiratno, director general of conservation at the Ministry of the Environment, who uses only one name as many Indonesians. a permit.
The Sumatran rhino has always been in danger due to poaching and habitat destruction.
Animal traders hunt their horns for commercial and medicinal purposes, often for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Human encroachment on their habitat has also contributed to a significant decline in their numbers.
The remaining animals now live on small pockets of land, which makes it especially difficult for them to reproduce in the wild.
The new Sumatran rhino at the reserve in Indonesia marks the first birth of this species at the facility in 10 years. It also comes after a rhinoceros mother suffered eight miscarriages.
In 1998 the Ministry of Environment of Indonesia and Kampas National Park partnered in a captive breeding program for the near-extinct Sumatran rhino.
Wiratno believes the park is the only viable place where the natural breeding of Sumatran rhino can take place “with the support of technology and the cooperation of experts from inside and outside the country”.
The Javan rhino is another subspecies of Indonesia that is in danger of extinction. The birth of five Javanese calves in Ujung Kowloon National Park last year has raised hopes that conservation efforts will succeed.
“Rosa’s pregnancy represents new hope for this critically endangered species,” said Nina Faccioni, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation.
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