13 Sumatran Rhinos Found On Borneo - Gvn. Had Thought 70 Survived

[hatrack]

GENEVA - Poachers have killed most endangered rhinoceroses in a rainforest on the island of Borneo, but at least 13 have survived, WWF International said on Friday.

The Swiss-based conservation group said it and Malaysian authorities have put in place protection units to patrol Sabah state in northern Borneo, where experts found evidence of 13 rare Sumatran rhinos during an extensive survey last year. "Poaching has decimated Borneo's once-healthy rhino population, but we were heartened to find that a few individuals have managed to cling to survival," said Raymond Alfred of WWF-Malaysia.

Previous estimates had suggested there were 30 to 70 rhinos on Borneo, all in Sabah, one of two Malaysian provinces on the forest-covered island. Rhinos in Sarawak, the other Malaysian state, and on the Indonesian side of Borneo are believed to be extinct, it said.

Fewer than 300 Sumatran rhinos are believed to be left in the world and they are considered one of the most endangered rhino species because of intense poaching, according to the WWF, previously known as the World Wildlife Fund.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/35691/story.htm

[blindpig]

1. Nothing to see here.....

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

I really need to get drunk. Now. The cascade of bad news is deranging me.

[happyslug]

2. Some information on the Sumatran Rhino

http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/sumatranrhino/
http://www.cincinnatizoo.org/Conservation/GlobalConservation/SumatranRhino/BirthAnnouncement/announcement.html
http://www.animalinfo.org/species/artiperi/dicesuma.htm
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/sumatran_rhino.htm
http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Perissodactyla/Dicerorhinus_sumatrensis.html