Sumatran rhinos wait for helping hand<\/p>\n
Bambang Parlupi, Contributor, Lampung<\/p>\n
Out of five remaining species of rhinos left in the world,
\nIndonesia is home to two -- the Javanese and Sumatran rhinos.<\/p>\n
These two rare species of rhinos -- the Javanese rhino
\n(Rhinoceros sondaicus) which has a single horn and the Sumatran
\nrhino (Dicerhirhinus sumatrensis) which has two horns -- are
\nknown as key species in the conservation of nature diversity as
\ntheir survival assures the protection of other wildlife. But at
\npresent, the survival of these protected herbivores is at stake.<\/p>\n
"Of all other rhinos, the Sumatran rhinos are now the most
\nthreatened with extinction," said Marchellus Adi CRT of the
\nSumatran Rhino Reserve Foundation.<\/p>\n
The veterinarian, better known as Marcell, said the population
\nof rhinos in the wild had declined fast in the past decade.<\/p>\n
The Javanese rhinos are found in Ujung Kulon National Park in
\nBanten province, while the Sumatran rhinos roam the Sumatran
\njungles. Groups of wild Sumatran rhinos are often spotted in
\nseveral national parks in Sumatra, like Mount Leuser National
\nPark and Kerinci Seblat National Park.<\/p>\n
Their precise numbers, are not known but it is estimated there
\nare between 200 and 300 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild,
\nscattered in protected forests from Lampung to Aceh.
\nIt is also estimated that groups of Sumatran rhinos are found in
\nSarawak, Sabah (in Malaysia) and the central part of Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Marcell said the decline in the rhinos population in the wild
\nwas due to a number of factors like forest fires, illegal
\nlogging, nomadic farming and conversion of forest into human
\nsettlement.<\/p>\n
In some areas, rhinos are hunted.<\/p>\n
In Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Lampung, for
\nexample, a Sumatran rhino was recently found trapped by illegal
\nhunters in its natural habitat.<\/p>\n
"These illegal hunters do not only use steel-wire traps but
\nalso firearms."<\/p>\n
Marcell said those hunters were hunting the rhino for their
\nhorns.<\/p>\n
"According to information, the price of horns on the black
\nmarket could reach US$20,000 per kilogram," said Marcell, the
\nfoundation's site manager. Horns are then sold on the black
\nmarket as an ingredient in Chinese medicine.<\/p>\n
In order to reduce the hunting of wild rhino and to monitor
\ntheir population, the government and several conservation
\norganizations set up the Rhino Protection Unit (RPU), a program
\nto protect Sumatran rhinos, in 1995. Three locations were
\nselected as the working area of RPU, namely Kerinci Seblat
\nNational Park, South Bukit Barisan National Park and Way Kambas
\nNational Park.<\/p>\n
RPU member, Bambang Subiyanto, said his job was to patrol his
\nworking area, monitor the population of rhinos and their habitat,
\nand to prevent hunting.<\/p>\n
"We are concerned not only with rhinos. We will arrest anybody
\nwho is caught hunting or violating regulations within the nature
\nconservation areas," said Bambang, whose working area as a forest
\nranger covers Way Kambas National Park, Lampung.<\/p>\n
In Way Kambas, for example, dozens of armed men were nabbed in
\nFebruary while hunting. "Although we caught them with only a few
\nhunted deer, they could always hunt other animals like rhinos or
\ntigers."<\/p>\n
But at times, he said, there were problems when illegal
\nhunters were ready to resist when caught red-handed. Still, he
\nbelieves the patrol unit's presence helped reduce poaching. The
\nnumber of volunteers, however, was not sufficient compared to the
\narea they must monitor.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, there are more people clearing the forest
\neither for plantations or settlement within the protected area,
\nthus threatening the survival of Sumatran rhinos in the wild.<\/p>\n
"In Lampung alone groups of wild rhinos are often seen at the
\nedge of the forest and the community's plantations," said
\nBambang, who has been working as a forest ranger since 1982.
\n"That opens up opportunities for poaching. The shrinking habitat
\nmakes rhinos more visible."<\/p>\n
Efforts to conserve Sumatran rhinos continue, including
\nbreeding them outside their habitat. A captive breeding program
\nwas conducted between 1986 and 1991 by capturing 18 Sumatran
\nrhinos from Indonesian forests. They were sent to various zoos in
\nthe U.S., Britain, Malaysia and Indonesia. Unfortunately, between
\n1986 and 1997, 13 Sumatran rhinos died in captivity in the zoos
\ndue to various reasons, like health and food problems.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, a special captive breeding project of Sumatran
\nrhinos was set up in 1997 located in their natural habitat in Way
\nKambas National Park and managed by SRS. In this location, human
\nintervention is limited. Each rhino has its own area, separated
\nfrom the areas of other rhinos, given that a rhino is a solitary
\nanimal.<\/p>\n
In the 100-hectare plot of land, there used to be three
\nrhinos: a male rhino that once stayed in Howletts Zoo, Britain,
\nand two females one previously kept at Taman Safari park in
\nBogor, West Java and the other in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
However, only the male rhino and one female rhino are left
\nnow. One of the females died some time ago. The two remaining
\nrhinos are still under study, with hopes they will produce
\noffspring.<\/p>",
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