Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, Indonesia

The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is the most threatened of the five living rhino species. No more than 200individuals survive in small, highly fragmented populations in Indonesia and Malaysia, and the population is suffering rapid declines due to poaching and habitat loss. Because of the challenges and uncertainties of conserving this Critically Endangered species in range countries with rapidly changing and often volatile political climates, in 1984 the World Conservation Union’s Asian Rhino Specialist Group recommended developing a captive breeding program as part of a larger population management strategy for the Sumatran rhino.

Torgamba and Bina, two of the rhinos at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas, breeding.

Rhino experts agreed that successful reproduction would require sufficiently natural conditions and large enclosures. In the early 1990s, managed breeding centers (known as “sanctuaries”) were developed in native habitat in the range states of Indonesia and Malaysia, to which some captive rhinos were repatriated. The International Rhino Foundation helped to establish and operate the first and most important of these centers, the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) in Way Kambas National Park , Sumatra, Indonesia. The SRS encompasses 100 hectares (247 acres) for propagation, research and education, and received its first rhino in 1998. The sanctuary is now home to five rhinos – two males and three females -- that are part of an intensively managed research and breeding program aimed at increasing the Sumatran rhino population in the wild. At the sanctuary, the rhinos reside in large, open areas where they can experience a natural rain forest habitat while still receiving state-of-the-art veterinary care and nutrition.

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary – Research, Breeding and Education

The goal of the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary is to maintain a small population of Sumatran rhinos for research, ‘insurance’, and awareness-building purposes, while, over the long-term, developing a successful breeding program that can produce new animals to help ensure the survival of this Critically Endangered species in the wild.

Breeding Sumatran rhinos has not been easy - the learning curve for this program was steep. Traditional captive management and husbandry approaches did not immediately succeed. Despite the fact that managed breeding efforts began worldwide in 1984, the species did not reproduce in captivity until 2000.

Thus, the International Rhino Foundation has been working to resolve a number of circumstantial, medical and management problems related to successful propagation of Sumatran rhinos. Primary collaborations are with Dr. Terri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo, Dr. Benn Bryant of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dr. Tim Portas of the Australia Zoo, and Dr. Muhammad Agil, the foremost rhino reproductive biologist in Indonesia, as well as with our staff on the ground at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.

The Cincinnati Zoo has achieved spectacular success by reproducing this species three times after intensive research led to deeper understanding of the reproductive biology. This, in turn, led to developing propagation techniques. Primary methods include hormone monitoring (via blood and feces) and hormone supplementation, as well as ultrasound to ascertain follicular development in females and testicular status in males. As a result, a male calf (“Andalas”) was born in September 2000 – the first Sumatran rhino bred and born in a zoo in more than 112 years. This successful pregnancy occurred after five previous failures, with gestation sustained through the use of supplemental hormones. Two other calves have since been born in Cincinnati without hormonal supplementation of the mother. In close consultation with Cincinnati Zoo, methodology that has proven successful at that facility is being adapted to the conditions at the SRS.

All five of the rhinos at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary are in good health, although two of the animals ("Torgamba" and "Bina") are nearly post-reproductive. All animals are monitored on a daily basis by the sanctuary’s two veterinarians and are immediately treated for any health problems that may arise.

Because there are so few Sumatran rhinoceros managed in captivity around the world, a group called the Global Management and Propagation Board (GMPB) for the Sumatran rhino was formed in order to bring all stakeholders together to truly manage the small and dispersed population at a global level. Per the GMPB recommendations, Andalas has been exposed to as many of the female rhinos as possible over the past year so he could learn to communicate with the rhinos long before they are put together for breeding purposes. In December 2009, Andalas began successfully mating with Ratu, one of the young females recently brought to the sanctuary. The breeding followed months of gradual introduction by scent, sound, sight, and finally, physical proximity, ultimately resulting in a pregnancy after their third mating.

Ratu became pregnant in January 2010 – the first pregnancy at the SRS! Unfortunately, Ratu later miscarried, which is not unusual for a rhino’s first pregnancy. While all of us were saddened by the loss, achieving a pregnancy confirms that the Sumatran rhino breeding program is progressing. Emi, Andalas’ mother, lost a number of pregnancies early in gestation before she carried one to term at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Experience and information gained with Emi will be used to help Ratu sustain her next pregnancy.

The Rhino Dance

In addition to serving as a breeding center for the Sumatran rhino, the SRS also serves as a center for community outreach and education programs as well as a centerpiece for conservation tourism that could eventually generate income for rhino conservation in Indonesia. The single most critical challenge facing grassroots conservation for this species in Southeast Asia is the paucity of knowledge and understanding by local people about the “hairy” rhino and its rainforest home. The Sumatran rhino lives a rather secretive life and is rarely encountered even by the park staff charged with their protection.

There is no better audience for rhino stories than children, who will need strong conservation values to mitigate the increasing pressure of growing human populations made desperate from poverty. The International Rhino Foundation has worked with a local village near the SRS to support creation of a ‘rhino dance’ to educate local children and communities about the importance of protecting rhinos and other wildlife. Performing to traditional music, costumed characters tell of the plight of the Sumatran rhino as well as the Sumatran tiger and other animals living in the surrounding forest. The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary has also developed a visitor center where groups of visitors can learn about the program and see conservation videos.

Rhinos at the SRS

Andalas resting in his SRS quarantine enclosure the day after arrival (21 February 2007).

The five Sumatran rhinos living at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary – Rosa, Ratu, Bina, Torgamba, and Andalas -- serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts; instruments for education for local communities and the general public; an ‘insurance’ population that can be used to reestablish or revitalize wild populations that have been eliminated or debilitated; an invaluable resource for basic and applied biological research; and hopefully, in the future, as sources of animals for reintroductions, once threats have been ameliorated in their natural habitat.

The five rhinos living at the SRS are supported by generous donations from many of our friends and partners, like Rhinocarhire.com. To learn more about each individual rhino living at the sanctuary, and to find out how you too can help support Sumatran rhino conservation by “adopting” one of the sanctuary’s rhinos, please visit our Adopt – a – Rhino page .

If you would like more information about this or other IRF programs, please email
info@rhinos-irf.org.

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