Sumatran Rhino news thread

Yes, 'low sperm counts' are a common conclusion from vet exams it seems, yet the animals still breed somehow...maybe they should try Tam first(and quickly) and if that fails, bring in Harapan. They really do need more animals of both sexes to join this semi-captive breeding project now. There is still only one breeding female(Ratu) and no unrelated animals for her two calves to breed with when they mature.

 

No Rhinos found during the lastest survey in Sabah :

No sightings of Sumatran rhinos in key areas of Sabah, extinction likely - Nation | The Star Online

 

How much of an exaggeration is this article? How likely are they to be extinct in the wild? There's some in captivity still, right?

 

At this point, I think the best thing to do for the Indonesian rhinos is get as much DNA as possible that we can clone from, establish large, connected habitat tracts, and reintroduce the new animals once we have captive populations. If we can get at least one sample from all the Javan rhinos, they should be fairly easy to make using Indians as the surrogates

 

What would you use as a surrogate for a Sumatran Rhinoceros? They have no living relatives close enough for that to work. Also cloning technology is nowhere near capable to bringing a rhinoceros population back at this time.

~Thylo

 

You could keep the collected DNA on ice until we're ready.

 

I'm kind of against cloning in conservation.

 

That still doesn't answer what you'd use as a surrogate. We'd still need to preserve the species to be able to clone them.

~Thylo

 

While I would be the first to admit that cloning a rhinoceros would be very difficult, the cloning technology is advancing fast. DNA should be collected whenever possible, as it can become a powerful tool in the future. However, just collecting some DNA and hope for the best its not the way to go. It remains important though, as even if we cannot clone them back, we can still learn a lot by looking at their genetics, and gather knowledge that may come in handy in conservation. I don't know the answer to the surrogate question (assuming we need one), but not collecting DNA at this moment would be stupid.

Why so?

 

Because I believe it may lead to a future where no one cares about wildlife because "It's okay, if the go extinct we can always clone another one".

 

Oh I agree 100%. I'm a big supporter of the current project to clone Northern White Rhinos. My point was just that, as you correctly assumed, a closely related surrogate species is needed to grow the cloned animal. I'm not sure where artificial womb technology is atm, but those would presumably cut out the need for a surrogate. That being a possibility for rhinos is very far into the future, though, I'm afraid and my never even be possible. I do agree that collection DNA is valuable, I was just pointing out to @tigris115 that we do not currently have to means to clone large numbers of them atm as they seem to think we can.

This is indeed a problem, and some people do already have this attitude. This attitude, however, is along the lines of those who think we do not need to worry about conserving wildlife because "scientists have warned about their extinctions before and it hasn't happened yet." It will always be present and always be a major problem in convincing the public to conserve species, but specifically deciding not to follow through with a method that could potentially save and even bring back hundreds of species some day just because it'll make some ignorant people even more ignorant is a bad argument against the science imo.

~Thylo

 

It's just referring to Malaysian Borneo.

 

I'm under the assumption that its a matter of time (if not checked) where life will be cultured petri dish style in artificial wombs- NOT saying I expect it in my lifetime, so don't misunderstand me)

 

Does anyone know the number of individuals surviving in captivity please? From what I've seen, it doesn't seem to be more than 20?

taa.

 

Currently, there are 10 (4.6) Sumatran rhinos in captivity. Of those 10 Sumatran rhinos, 7 (3.4) reside in Sumatra, 2 (1.1) reside in Sabah, Malaysia, and 1 (0.1) resides in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Spoiler: Current Captive Population of Sumatran Rhinos:

* Estimated Year of Birth

Kelian Lestari Protected Forest (West Kutai, East Kalimantan, Indonesia)
0.1 Pahu 1990.00.00*

Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia)
1.0 Andalas (Ipuh x Emi) 2001.09.13
1.0 Harapan (Ipuh x Emi) 2007.04.29
1.0 Andatu (Andalas x Ratu) 2012.06.23
0.1 Bina 1985.00.00*
0.1 Ratu 2000.00.00*
0.1 Rosa 2002.00.00*
0.1 Delilah (Andalas x Ratu) 2016.05.12

Tabin Wildlife Reserve (Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia)
1.0 Tam 1989.00.00*
0.1 Iman 1999.00.00*

 

Thank you!

 

While on the topic of cloning, though this may not apply to Sumatran Rhinos as much as other species that nurture their young for extended amounts of time, cloning can recreate the biological properties of an animal; however, it will fail to sufficiently replicate any learned behaviors that would ordinarily be passed down from parent to offspring. Just my two cents.

 

The last male Sumatran rhino in Sabah has died, leaving just one female.
Tam, Sabah’s Last Male Sumatran Rhino, Is Dead

 

Unfortunately Kertam was never able to contribute to the breeding 'programme'. The two females Putung and Iman were both either unsuitable or too old for breeding. There was talk of him being sent to pair with Suci in Cincinnati at one stage, and later the possibility of moving to Way Kambas, being unrelated to the rhinos there also, but neither materialised. Presumably they have extracted semen from him at some point though, with a view to any future AI attempts with this species.

Shouldn't this important thread really be under 'Wildlife Conservation'?