KOTA KINABALU: Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) executive director Datuk Dr Junaidi Payne yesterday re-iterated the need to bring all wild Sumatran Rhinoceros into captive, professionally managed facilities.
He said the move was to increase prospects of boosting birth rate above death rate.
“This has to be done now before the species goes extinct,” he stressed.
He also said the female Sumatran Rhinoceros, Puntung, that was captured in Tabin last year was found to have significant endometrial cyst growth.
“This will make achieving pregnancy very difficult or impossible without treatment,” he said. Presently, there are three Sumatran Rhinoceros in captivity in Sabah and they are all kept at an interim facility at Tabin.
These include an old female Sumatran Rhinoceros, Gelogob, a young male, Tam, and a young female, Puntung.