Animal Spotlight: Sumatran Rhino

by David Ellis via Flickr.com
used under Creative Commons License

Physical Characteristics: Sumatran Rhinos are born covered in dense hair, which thins out and becomes wiry as the rhino grows. They have two small horns instead of one large one, and grow to be between 1 and 1.5 meters in height. They are the smallest type of rhino, and weigh only 950kg at most.

Habitat: These rhinos used to live in the Himalaya region in north-east India, through southern China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malay Peninsula, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, in Indonesia. Currently, they only survive in parts of Sumatra and Malaysia. They almost exclusively live in regions with dense tropical forests.

Diet: They are herbivores, and will eat almost any kind of plant. They are known as "opportunistic feeders" and tend to browse for whatever they can find.

Behavior: Male rhinos are generally solitary, but females are often found living with their offspring. They do not usually move very far during the day, and their range does not vary much unless their habitat becomes disturbed. They spend most of their day laying in puddles or mud holes to stay cool. They communicate with each other primarily through sounds.

The Threat to Their Population

Sumatran Rhinos are the most critically endangered species of rhino alive today. They outnumber the Javan Rhino, but since they are at a higher risk of poaching, they are considered the most endangered. It is difficult to find the exact number of Sumatran Rhinos remaining in the wild, but scientists have concluded that the number is less than 275. Some say that the numbers have dwindled to less than 100, but it is hard to know for sure.

There are 3 subspecies of Sumatran Rhino, one of which is widely considered to be extinct. The rhinos can live to be up to 45 years old, but they have been reproducing more and more infrequently. In the past 15 years, there have been only 2 successful births in captivity. More recently, on March 30th, 2014, one of the last Sumatran Rhinos in captivity died at the Cincinnati Zoo.

by Willem v Strien via Flickr.com
used under Creative Commons License

By far the largest threat to Sumatran Rhino populations is illegal poaching. In countries such as Vietnam, their horn is believed to have medicinal powers. These claims are of course false, but the superstition is a large part of why the poaching continues. Because of the severely decreased populations, breeding frequency and genetic diversity has also suffered.

These rhinos are also extremely sensitive to any changes in their environment, so destruction of their habitat also affects their population. Many of the forests in their natural range have been cut down to harvest coffee or rice, robbing the rhinos of viable living space.

Conservation Efforts

Sumatran Rhinos are legally protected, and an international cooperative program is being put in place to end to illegal poaching. There are also several breeding programs in place, with the two most recent successful births occurring at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2001 and 2004. 

The World Wildlife Fund is also participating in monitoring current populations and restoring the environment for the rhinos. They are also monitoring illegal trading activity and funding antipoaching efforts.

via Wikipedia - used under Creative Commons License

SOURCES

Sumatran Rhino. (n.d.). World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 2014, from http://worldwildlife.org/species/sumatran-rhino

Dicerorhinus sumatrensis. (n.d.). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved , from http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6553/0

Sumatran Rhino. (n.d.). International Rhino Foundation. Retrieved , from http://www.rhinos.org/rhinos/sumatran-rhino

Sumatran rhino. (n.d.). Save the Rhino. Retrieved , from http://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/species_of_rhino/sumatran_rhinos