FWD: Death of another rhino puts pressure on breeding programme

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This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling.

 

Comment from sender:

Does anyone who specializes in rhinos know the probable cause of deaths for two

rhinos within 15 months of each other? Is captive breeding the ideal solution

to the loss of forest habitats of the rhinos? Answers appreciated.

 

This article is from thestar.com.my

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2003/4/18/nation/hrrima & sec=nation

 

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Friday, April 18, 2003

Death of another rhino puts pressure on breeding programme

BY HILARY CHIEW

 

PETALING JAYA: Another rhinoceros under the captive breeding programme of the

Wildlife and National Parks Department in Sungai Dusun died of unknown causes on

Sunday – 15 months after the death of a male rhino.

 

Confirming the death of Rima, a 25-year-old female, department director-general

Datuk Musa Nordin said he had not received the post-mortem report and declined

to speculate on the probable causes.

 

 

 

Zoo Negara chief veterinarian Dr S. Vellayan, who carried out the post-mortem,

said the animal was found slumped in its enclosure at the Rhinoceros

Conservation Centre on Sunday morning.

 

“Specimens of her internal organs have been sent to several laboratories in the

country and we will only know the results in the next two or three weeks.

Initial investigations did not find any significant cause of death,” he added.

 

On Jan 19 last year, 16-year-old Shah died after supposedly recovering from a

short illness, leaving Ara the remaining male to shoulder the task of

propagating the highly endangered Sumatran or Lesser Two-horned rhinoceros at

the centre.

 

Rima was special to the programme as she was already impregnated when captured

in 1987 and subsequently gave birth to her baby, later named Minah, at the

centre.

 

The latest development is expected to put further pressure on the programme,

which has yet to produce a baby rhino since it was set up in 1984 despite

numerous reports of pregnancies among the six females. The pregnancies have so

far ended in miscarriages.

 

In another development, Perhilitan’s Rhino Patrol Unit is preparing to capture

two adult rhinoceros from Kedah next month following confirmation of sightings

in a forested area encroached upon by logging activities.

 

Unit officer Kadir Hashim declined to reveal the location for fear of poaching.

 

“There is high possibility of hunters and poachers coming across the animals as

the forest cover is being cleared away.

 

“This will put the animals in danger.

 

“Therefore, it has been decided that it will be best to capture them and

transfer them to the centre at Sungai Dusun,” he added.

 

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