No egg cells in harvested ovaries

Jun 08 2017

No egg cells in harvested ovaries

The Star Online, 8 June 2017

Malaysia’s hopes for preventing the extinction of the Sumatran rhino through in vitro production of embryos narrowed further when in vitro specialist Profesor Arief Boediono determined that the ovaries of Puntung, who was put to sleep on Sunday, contained no oocytes. Malaysia now has to rely on the last female Sumatran rhino, Iman, to be the supplier of eggs.

“No oocytes (egg cells) were found in the follicles of her ovaries. It was very unfortunate,” said Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga on efforts to preserve Puntung’s bloodline after the animal was euthanised as her skin cancer was deemed untreatable.

Scientists were hoping to fertilize Puntung’s egg cells with frozen sperm obtained from the sole captive male rhino in the country called Tam, in a bid to reverse the fate of Sumatran rhinos, which were considered extinct in Malaysia since 2015.

Right after Puntung was euthanised, veterinarians removed her ovaries and flew them to Agro-Biotechnology Institute in Serdang, Selangor, on the same day for the egg harvesting process.

In the event viable eggs were found, Indonesian reproductive specialist Prof Arief Boediono would then inject Tam’s sperm into them for insemination.

In the meantime, tissue samples of Puntung are now kept in several Malaysian institutions so that her genome can still be preserved.

Puntung captured global attention in recent months after top veterinarians from various parts of the world came forward to assist in what initially appeared to be a bad case of tooth infection.

With Puntung’s demise, the sole remaining captive female Sumatran rhino is Iman.

Previous attempts to get Iman and Puntung to mate with Tam were unsuccessful as their uteruses were lined with cysts.

Last December, Borneo Rhino Alliance executive director Datuk Dr John Payne said advanced reproductive and cellular technologies could be the only methods left to ensure the survival of the Sumatran rhino in Sabah.

Conservationists believe that the remaining Sumatran rhinos, whether in Indonesia or Malaysia, could contribute their genes to produce babies.

The surviving wild population of Sumatran rhinos, estimated to be only several dozens, are still roaming Indonesia’s Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Read article on the The Star online

This article has been edited slightly for factual correctness.

Jun 04 2017

Farewell Puntung, we will honour your memory

Puntung enjoying a mud wallow in the safety of her temporary forest paddock days after her capture

Today is one of the saddest days we’ve ever faced. As of this morning, Puntung’s suffering has come to an end.

She was euthanized just past dawn, ending her battle against squamous cell cancer.

It was one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make, but euthanasia had become the only defensible option. Chemotherapy, radiation treatment and excision surgery might seem possible. But for us, her welfare was the most critical element. Any of those treatments would bring further distress to Puntung because they would cause her further pain and, at best, give her a few more months of life.

Sumatran rhinos wallow in mud for at least six hours daily and become increasingly stressed if kept in clean, closed facilities. A stress-free life for Puntung was simply not going to be possible. And so we made the very difficult choice of ending her suffering and giving her peace.

We’ll always remember her as a fighter. She survived a poacher’s attempt as a calf, when her foot was cut off. But she refused to give up and went on to survive in the forests. She then became pregnant in the wild, but tragically lost her baby. The complications of that pregnancy resulted in her having cysts in her uterus, but still she fought on… till the very end.

And that’s how we will honour her. By embracing her tenacity for life. We at BORA will not give up the fight to save the critically endangered Sumatran Rhino.

There are now only two left in Malaysia, and less than 100 in Indonesia. Puntung’s passing is the third captive Sumatran rhino death in the past 3.5 years. In this time, there has only been one birth in captivity. And with wild populations continuing to face risks, the number of deaths could dangerously continue to outpace the number of births.

This is the great tragedy that’s at our doorstep. One that we must fight. But we can’t do this alone. Humanity needs to come together, now more than ever. What we do today will define the very existence of an entire species. It will define who we are as people, a species who have the power to save the rest of life that we share this world with.

And just like Puntung, we at BORA will not give up.

Be at peace, Puntung.

Jun 04 2017

Cancer-stricken Puntung the Sumatran rhino euthanised

NST Online By AVILA GERALDINE

KOTA KINABALU: The worst has come to pass.

Wildlife experts here bade a sad farewell to Puntung, one of Malaysia’s three remaining Sumatra rhinos, who was put down after a brief battle against cancer.

Sabah Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga said the euthanasia procedure was performed at between 7am and 8am at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.

In a statement, he said the 25-year-old female rhino was placed under close observation prior to her death.

“Her keepers, Wilson Kuntil, Hassan Sani and Samad Gubin had been sleeping for the past week with Puntung in her forest paddock.

“They were very attuned to subtle changes in her behaviour and reported periodic bleeding from the nostrils.

“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties,” he said.

After consulting rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin and others, Tuuga said, the decision was made to end Puntung’s agony and bring forward the date of the procedure.

“Previously, we were planning to do it on June 15. In pursuit of the aim to allow Puntung to contribute to the survival of her species, her ovaries were rushed to the Agro-Biotechnology Institute in Serdang,” he added.

Tuuga also said Indonesian reproductive specialist Prof Arief Boediono was ready to recover any egg cells that may be present.

“If any oocytes can be retrieved and matured, frozen sperm from the male rhino Tam will be thawed for intracytoplasmic sperm injection by Prof Arief. We will know the outcome within a few days.

“In addition, tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures,” added Tuuga.

Puntung was recently diagnosed with the deadly squamous cell skin cancer, which spread rapidly after she underwent an operation in April to extract two molars and a premolar from the upper left side of her jaw.

Tuuga had said two subsequent biopsies after Puntung’s successful surgery revealed squamous cell carcinoma.

Specialists from various countries had agreed that the cancer would be fatal, with or without treatment.

The remaining female rhino Iman, and male rhino Kertam, are being cared for by non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance, at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.

Puntung was captured in 2011. It was later established that she was the last remaining wild rhino in the reserve.

Read the article on NST Online

Jun 04 2017

Puntung euthanised leaves Malaysia with just two Sumatran rhinos

The Malay Mail Online, 4 June 2017

Puntung was captured in 2011 and kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino. — Picture via Borneo Rhino Sanctuary

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — Malaysia is now left with only two Sumatran rhinoceroses after the third, named Puntung, was euthanised early this morning to end her suffering from skin cancer.

Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga said the decision to put the 25-year-old female rhinoceros to permanent sleep was brought forward from June 15 as the cancer caused her severe breathing problems as well as bleeding from her nostril.

“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties.

“In consultation with our rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, and others, the decision was taken to end her growing discomfort, and bring forward the planned date of the procedure,” he said in a statement today.

A Thai veterinary team had successfully extracted two molars and one premolar from Puntung’s left upper jaw during a two-hour-and-twenty minute surgery on April 19, 2017 . — Picture by Julia Chan

In her last week, she was accompanied day and night by her keepers in her forest paddock.

She was euthanised at 4am.

Tuuga also said that Puntung’s ovaries and reproductive cells have been harvested to ensure the continuity of the critically endangered species.

“Tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures,” he added.

Puntung was first captured in the wild in 2011 and kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu, with one other female and a male Sumatran rhino named Tam.

The sanctuary, managed by the non-governmental organisation Borneo Rhino Alliance contracted by the SWD, had previously planned to mate Puntung with Tam in a managed facility until it discovered cysts in her uterus that made her unable to bear a pregnancy.

Puntunf had suffered from an abscess in her cheek that would not heal despite treatment since mid-March and underwent an operation to remove two molars and one premolar in her upper left jaw last month in an attempt to heal the abscess

Malaysia no longer has any wild rhinoceroses. The remainder of the critically endangered species, numbering in the tens, is in neighbouring Indonesia.

Read the article online

Jun 04 2017

Puntung the rhino dies, euthanised to end her suffering

Borneo Post Online, 4 June 2017

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has lost Puntung, the Sumatran Rhino who touched the hearts of many.

Sabah Wildlife Department Director Augustine Tuuga said Puntung was euthanised this morning at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

A week ago, Augustine broke the news that Puntung could no longer breathe through her left nostril and was no longer able to vocalise, was in pain and her condition was declining fast due to squamous cell cancer.

Puntung had been suffering since mid-March from an abscess inside her upper jaw that would not heal despite treatment.

Initially captured on Dec 18, 2011, the rhino attracted global attention in April 2017 through dental surgery performed by a multi-national team in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

She was one of the last three Sumatran rhinos in the country; now, they are only two left.

Augustine in a statement issued to the media said that Puntung’s keepers Wilson Kuntil, Hassan Sani and Samad Gubin had been sleeping for the past week with Puntung in her forest paddock, to ensure that she was under 24-hour observation.

They were very attuned to subtle changes in her behaviour and reported periodic bleeding from the nostrils, he said.

“The carcinoma had been growing rapidly in size and there were clear signs that Puntung was experiencing significant breathing difficulties. In consultation with our rhino reproduction advisers at Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, and others, the decision was taken to end her growing discomfort, and bring forward the planned date of the procedure.

“Previously, we planned to euthanise her on June 15. In pursuit of the aim to allow Puntung to contribute to the survival of her species, her ovaries were rushed to the Agro-Biotechnology Institute, Serdang,” added Augustine.

Simultaneously, Indonesian reproductive specialist Professor Arief Boediono was flown in from Jakarta, ready to recover any egg cells that might be present.

“If any oocytes can be retrieved and matured, frozen sperm from the male rhino Tam
will be thawed for intracytoplasmic sperm injection by Professor Arief. We will know the outcome within a few days,” Augustine said.

In addition, tissue samples from Puntung are being provided to Malaysian institutions so that her genome can be preserved through cell cultures.

Other keepers who have attended to Puntung in recent months are Rasaman Jaya, Marikus Suyat, Justine Sagunting, Joseph Stimon, Ronald Jummy, Davidson Kuntil and Alvin Erut, with Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin in charge.

Read the full article online