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FLORA AND FAUNA
Malaysia wildlife officials to trap rhino for breeding

Abandoned Borneo baby pygmy elephant rescued in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) June 9, 2010 - Malaysian wildlife authorities have saved a second endangered pygmy elephant calf on Borneo island, a state minister said Wednesday as he called for an urgent effort to safeguard its shrinking habitat. Masidi Manjun, eastern Sabah-state tourism, culture and environment minister said the two-year-old female elephant was found last Friday. About two weeks ago plantation workers found a starving six-month-old elephant in another area. "I hope the saving of the two pygmy elephants will highlight the need by the people of Sabah to treasure our jungles and our rare animals," he said.

Pygmy elephants are unique to Borneo and form a sub-species of the Asian elephant. The creatures have a rounded appearance and males stand only about 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) tall, compared to around 3.0 metres for mainland Asian elephants. Authorities say the elephant species is considered endangered, with around 1,500-2,000 left on Borneo island. Wildlife activists have warned that Borneo Pygmy elephants are fast losing their natural habitat to deforestation and human encroachment.

Masidi said he feared the two calves could have been separated or abandoned by their mothers "in a haste to escape hunters or humans," as poaching was rife in the state. "Sabah's wildlife faces challenges. Poaching is the number one problem. Its wildlife habitat is experiencing destruction, degradation and fragmentation of the forest," he warned. "Indiscriminate logging will affect our wildlife." Masidi said since eco-tourism was a major income earner for Sabah, failure to safeguard nature will have "far reaching implications" on the state economy.
by Staff Writers
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) June 9, 2010
Malaysian wildlife officials on Wednesday said they plan to trap a rare female Borneo rhino caught on camera to mate with a lone male rescued two years ago.

"This particular female rhino is targeted for capture in order to provide a mate for our lone male rhino, Tam, who was captured in August 2008," Laurentius Ambu, wildlife director for Malaysia's Sabah state, said in a statement.

Officials said captive breeding was the only way to prevent extinction of the wild rhino, under threat from poaching.

The wild female rhino was spotted by remotely-set camera traps in eastern Sabah a few weeks ago. It followed the release on April 21 of an image of a possibly pregnant female in a another part of the state.

"Sabah now represents the last hope of saving the species in Malaysia and in Borneo," John Payne, chief executive officer of the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA).

BORA is assisting Sabah in the development of the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and providing security against poaching.

Sen Nathan, rhino conservation programme coordinator said poachers were the number one enemy of the rhinos.

"We have reached a stage now where even habitat loss is not so much the main reason for extinction, rather the ruthless hunting of the last few remaining individuals, to supply ridiculous markets for horns, bones and other body parts.

"For several species, we have reached the stage where actively concentrating the last few remaining individuals of the species in managed facilities might be the only way to avoid total extinction," he added.

Just 30 rhinos are known to remain in the wild on Borneo island, which is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, and researchers are only able to monitor the population through images captured by remote camera traps.

The Borneo sub-species is the rarest of all rhinos, distinguished from other Sumatran rhinos by its relatively small size, small teeth and distinctively shaped head.

The Sumatran rhino is one of the world's most endangered species, with few left on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the north of Borneo island and peninsular Malaysia.



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