Watch highlights of a video feature on BORA’s activities to rescue Borneo’s Sumatran Rhinos from extinction. The video is in Bahasa Malaysia and is used with permission from RTM.
View more videos here
Puntung in Pictures
Some photos of the exciting capture and translocation of Puntung the isolated female rhino to sanctuary where it is hoped she will find a ready mate. Click on a picture to view.
BORA in action!
BORA staff in action.
Andalas’s journey
Almost a decade ago, Andalas’s birth at the Cincinnati Zoo was cause for much celebration. It offered hope that individuals in captivity could help to replenish the numbers of this critically endangered species. Since then, Andalas has gone from strength to strength. In 2007, it was time at last to return to Sumatra to do what comes naturally. After an arduous journey, Andalas was home in his native habitat. This photo gallery and video captures moments from his journey over the past ten years.
As part of the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary’s captive breeding program, Andalas (the 7-year-old male Sumatran rhino born at the Cincinnati Zoo and transferred to Indonesia in 2007) is being exposed to as many of the sanctuary’s female rhinos as possible so he learns to communicate with the females long before they are put together for breeding purposes. This socialization process is being facilitated by feeding the rhinos their daily diets through the fence at the central breeding area, and then opening the gate so the rhinos can interact with each other if they choose. Over the past several months, Andalas has routinely been introduced to all three of the Sanctuarys females: Bina, Ratu and Rosa. This video shows an introduction between Andalas and Ratu – chasing and fighting are actually part of normal rhino “courting rituals.” Soon after this video was shot, Andalas mated with Ratu for the first time.
Video from the International Rhino Foundation.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HycboZ2AE4o[/youtube]
Rhino rescue 2008
A rhino “caught” on video was subsequently caught in real life, having walked out of the forest into an oil palm plantation, from which it refused to return to the forest. This rhino, a mature male named Kretam, or Tam for short, was enticed into a crate and moved into a small paddock in Tabin Wildlife Reserve on 13 August 2008.
His tameness indicated that this rhino was experiencing a problem. Specifically, it was decided to capture Tam because he had a visible injury to the right front leg, which turned out to be from a snare trap. This injury was treated successfully after capture.
On the advice of veterinarians who work at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas, Sumatra, Indonesia, a 2.5 hectare extension to the paddock was built, encompassing forest and a small seasonal stream. The cost of building the new paddock was borne jointly by Sabah Forestry Department, WWF and Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. This site is now the “transit area” for Tam and for additional rhinos that may be caught in the future.
