Sumatran rhinos becoming fewer

Sumatran rhinos becoming fewer

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Fewer than five endangered Sumatran rhinoceros have survived in a major wildlife habitat in West Malaysia, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

A survey conducted by Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks indicated the number of rhinoceros in the Endau- Rompin forest in central Malaysia has dwindled drastically since the late 1970s.

The wildlife department counted up to 30 rhinoceros about 25 years ago. The World Conservation Union has classified the Sumatran rhinoceros as the most critically endangered of the five rhino species found in the world.

Only 250 to 400 Sumatran rhinoceros are left, most of them found in the primary forests of Malaysia, Borneo and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.