 Reference Base  The conservation of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus... |
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Nardelli, F., 1987. The conservation of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis): a situation report and proposal for future directions. Rimba Indonesia 21 (1): 31-37
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| Location: |
Asia - South East Asia - Indonesia - Sumatra |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Sumatran Rhino |
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The Torgamba area in which our joint Howletts and Indonesian government capture operation has chosen to work, between the villages of Bakambatu and Tanjungmedan in Riau province, exemplifies the problems. In this area, a patch of about 30,000 ha of forest has been surrounded by oil-palm plantations, except for a large swamp on its eastern side. Logging roads intersect the forest in all directions, allowing access to illegal settlers, and disrupting the rhinos' usual patterns of movement. Within this area, a population of about 20 rhino has become marooned without access to the forested hinterland. Prof. Rubini Atmawidjaja, Director-General of the Directorate of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHPA) of the Ministry of Forestry, has had to intervene personally to freeze logging in this area for the next three years. Nothing could illustrate the problem more dramatically than the fact that the two Sumatran rhino our operation captured in June 1986 - the male ?Napangga' on the 15th, and the female ?Subur' on the 22nd - both had serious leg wounds indicated by trappers' snare-wires, the wires still deeply embedded in the flesh. There seems little doubt that had we not captured these two animals, they would have died a lingering death from gangrene.
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