Rare Sumatran rhinoceros birth brings hope to endangered species

Indonesia's Environment Ministry said on March 29 that a rare Sumatran rhinoceros had been successfully born in a reserve in the country, bringing hope to the conservation of endangered animals. strains.

According to AFP news agency, the female rhino, named Rosa, gave birth on March 24 in Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra (Indonesia), after having suffered eight miscarriages since 2005, when she was brought back. from the natural environment to propagate.

"The birth of this Sumatran rhino is good news as the government and partners are working to increase the number of this rare and endangered rhino species," said Wiratno, an official. senior official of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment, said.

The newly born rhino, which has yet to be named, brings the number of Sumatran rhinos in the Way Kambas reserve to eight.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) estimates there are fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos left worldwide, mainly in the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

The baby Sumatran rhinoceros was born on March 24 and has yet to be named. (Photo: AFP)

The case of a female Sumatran rhinoceros giving birth successfully is very rare. The baby rhino's father, named Andatu, is the first Sumatran rhino to be born in a reserve in more than 120 years.

The Sumatran rhinoceros, the smallest of the rhinoceros species, is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Threats from poaching and climate change have brought this rhino to the brink of extinction. In addition, Sumatran rhino horn is often illegally traded to make traditional Chinese medicines.

Besides the Sumattra rhinoceros, the Javan rhinoceros is also another critically endangered species that Indonesia is doing its best to protect.

Once numbering in the thousands across Southeast Asia, the Javan rhinoceros species now has fewer than 80, living mainly in a national park on the Indonesian island of Java.

Efforts to conserve this rhino species have also shown promising results with the birth of five baby rhinos last year in Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia.