 Reference Base  Conservation programmes for Sumatran and Javan rhinos in ... |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Asia - South East Asia - Indonesia - Sumatra |
| Subject: |
Management - Programs |
| Species: |
Sumatran Rhino |
 |
|
The SRS complex comprises 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) within Way Kambas National Park (Figure 6). The Government of Indonesia, Ministry of Forestry is providing 'concessions' for management of this area to the conservation partners involved, including the IRF, the AsRSG, and Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI). The SRS complex is divided into two parts: a Rhino Conservation Zone of 9,000 hectares and a Conservation Tourism Zone of 1,000 hectares.
Within the conservation zone, the first set of enclosures has been completed and encompasses 250 acres (100 hectares) in native forest. This area is currently divided into five 25-acre and one 125-acre enclosures. The enclosures largely consist of a simple electrified fence and have been constructed with minimal disturbance to the tropical forest habitat. Facilities for the animal staff are adjacent to the rhino enclosures. Completion of construction of this first rhino complex was delayed several months due to the unusually heavy and long rainy season during late 1996 and early 1997.
The first three rhinos (one male and two females) were moved to the SRS in January 1998. This movement was delayed due to the drought and fires caused by El Nino during late 1997. The rhinos have re-adapted well to their native environment (Figure 8) after many years in captivity as indicated by their increasing weights, which are measured weekly. A monthly Curator's Report is produced by the SRS Curator and his staff. The male rhino (Torgamba; Studbook Number 4) was moved from the Port Lympne Zoo in the United Kingdom; one of the females (Bina, Studbook Number 32) was from Taman Safari Indonesia and the other (Dusun, Studbook Number 12; this animal was captured in Peninsula Malaysia, and exchanged for a male from Indonesia) was from Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta (Foose 1999). These rhinos comprise all but three of the five surviving rhinos of the 18 (seven males and 11 females) originally captured in Indonesia as part of the effort to establish a captive propagation programme for this species. There had been two other rhinos in Indonesia zoos (a male at Taman Safari and a female at Surabaya Zoo) which were designated for the SRS at the inception of the programme. Unfortunately, these rhinos died during 1997 before they could be moved to the SRS.
The other three surviving Sumatran rhinos from Indonesia in captivity are at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States. During the last year, the programme there has succeeded in producing pregnancy in one of the females (Emi, Studbook Number 29) on actually three occasions (Roth and Brown, 1999). However, none of the pregnancies has been sustained; two continued for about one to two months; the longest for four months.
One of the females, Bina, at the SRS is definitely manifesting estrus. There is an ongoing programme of placing this female together with the male. To date, there has been increasing courtship activity (particularly intense during November and December 1998) and hopes are high for a pregnancy in the near future. All three rhinos at the Way Kambas SRS were examined by a team of reproductive specialists in February 1999. The conclusions were that the reproductive system of Bina. the female apparently cycling, is in excellent condition. The male Torgamba also appears to he healthy reproductively with evidence of sperm production. Curiously, the other female Dusun seems to be hyper lactating, a condition that reportedly commenced in 1992. when she may have developed but lost a pregnancy. This hyper lactation is suppressing the estrus cycle in this individual. A case of continued lactation due to hyperprolactinemia has been reported in an African elephant.
The IRF provided the initial capital (about US$500,000) for development of the rhino facilities and is supporting operation of the biological programme (about US$50,000/year).
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: