Two Baby Rhinos Born in Manas!

Baby Indian rhino just born in Manas National Park – Photo by Jamir Ali (WWF)

Question: How does one weigh the recent news of two rhino calves born in India’s Manas National Park against reports of increased poaching in the region?

Answer: These new additions to the Park’s rhino population help offset losses that, unfortunately, are difficult to prevent. The births also offer hope that efforts designed to restore Indian rhinos to former habitats and safeguard the species’ future will ultimately prove successful.

Hunting the Indian rhino

A little more than a century ago, northeastern India was home to three rhino species – the greater one-horned or Indian rhino, the Javan rhino and the Sumatran rhino. Throughout recorded history, this region appears to be the only one on Earth where three different rhino species could be found. However, hunting and habitat loss spelled the eventual demise of two species in India. The Javan rhino, a smaller relative of its one-horned Indian cousin and once said to be common in the state of Bengal, was extirpated – wiped out – by about 1900. The Sumatran rhino, the smallest of the living species and more closely related to the extinct woolly rhinoceros than to any of the surviving forms, used to be found in the hill country of Assam until about 1935. Only the Indian rhino remains, with the largest populations found in the Brahmaputra River valley.

Somewhere around 3,300 wild Indian rhinos are believed to survive in northeastern India and neighboring Nepal.  The largest population is found in Kaziranga National Park. The most recent survey estimates as many as 2,330 animals, which is an increase of about 40 individuals over the last year despite losses due to drowning during seasonal flooding, a number of recent poaching incidents, and the translocation of eight rhinos to Manas National Park as part of an ambitious reintroduction program – Indian Rhino Vision 2020.  The program’s goal is to restore this threatened species throughout strategic portions of its former range. Objectives call for reaching a population of at least 3,000 rhinos in the state of Assam by the year 2020 by establishing secure populations in seven protected areas, including Manas National Park. Although rhinos were once common in Manas, violent civil conflict that began in 1989 caused massive damage to the park’s infrastructure, including the destruction of anti-poaching camps, roads and villages. The park’s original rhino population was extirpated in 1996.

Release of translocated rhinos in Manas National Park

The first coordinated round of Indian Rhino Vision 2020 translocations to Manas began in 2008, when two male rhinos were moved from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. To date, 18 animals have been translocated from both Pobitora and Kaziranga. The program is a joint effort of the International Rhino Foundation, the Government of Assam, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Bodoland Territorial Council, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

First Indian rhino born in Manas – 2012

Last summer, the first rhino born in Manas since translocation efforts began was discovered by rhino monitoring units – a calf born to Rhino #10. Given that the female had been moved to Manas less than a year before, it’s clear that she was pregnant prior to the translocation.  Only a few days ago, rangers discovered two more surprises. Both Rhino #8 and Rhino #12 were spotted with calves in tow.  The latter female also must have been pregnant prior to the move, but Rhino #8 has been in Manas since January 2011, so it’s clear that she was impregnated by one of the translocated males. This represents the first successful breeding in the national park since Indian Rhino Vision 2020 was launched almost five years ago.

In the midst of the recent poaching pressure in northeastern India, these births are very encouraging. The high demand for rhino horn in the illegal wildlife trade continues to be the biggest threat to Indian rhinos, especially this new population. Two translocated rhinos have fallen prey to poachers in the past two years. The next major step in the program will be to return rhinos to Assam’s Laokhowa-Burachapori complex, a site where they were poached out in the 1980s.

If you’d like to help support these critical conservation efforts, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/donate.

Just Browsing!

Sumatran rhino (Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary,Indonesia) – a browser

Rhinos are broadly split into two categories – grazers and browsers – based upon their style of feeding and the types of food they eat.  Grazers prefer grasses and typically feed low to the ground.  Browsers favor leaves, twigs and hanging fruits, which often focuses their attention above eye level.  Grazers might be likened to lawn mowers, heads held low and broad mouths sweeping the ground.  Browsers are more like pruning shears, with narrower, prehensile lips reaching upwards into the trees.

White rhinoceros (Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya) – a grazer

The wide-mouthed white rhino of Africa is the consummate grazer.  Short grasses are its favorite foods.  The greater one-horned or Indian rhino is more difficult to categorize – sometimes a grazer and other times a browser.  It likes tall grasses, but also consumes leaves, branches and submerged aquatic plants.  The black rhino, which may share African grassland or savanna habitats with its white rhino cousin, is a browser that consumes significant roughage, like the thorny branches of acacia or fleshy plants like euphorbia that produce noxious chemicals.

Whistling acacia – Masai Mara, Kenya

Euphorbia – Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Tropical forest species like the Javan and Sumatran rhino are obligate browsers, surrounded by a diverse buffet of leafy plants.  Hundreds of species comprise their diets.  At the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, where the resident rhinos have access to large forest enclosures in which they’re free to browse (the verb), the animals are also given more than two dozen different kinds of browse (the noun) every day.   Their eclectic diet includes wild relatives of species like coffee, rubber, breadfruit and poinsettia.  They also seem to favor the aromatic leaves and bark of species related to common herbs and incenses – basil, mint, rosemary, sage, frankincense and myrrh.  Some Sumatran rhino food plants are known to be excellent sources of vitamin C.  Others produce toxic alkaloids that have been used by traditional hunters to produce arrow poisons.   How they know which ones to choose and how much of each to eat is still to be learned.

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) is a center for managed breeding and research located in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park.  To learn more about how the SRS contributes to the survival of this critically endangered species, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/sumatran-rhino-conservation-program.

Sumatran Rhino Crisis Summit

Sumatran Rhino, WayKambas National Park, Indonesia

In just under a month, rhino specialist from around the world will convene the Sumatran Rhino Crisis Summit, a crucial international meeting aimed at saving one of the planet’s most critically endangered species from extinction.  The five-day Summit is scheduled to be held from March 31 – April 4 in Singapore.

Two-horned, hair-covered rhinos – early ancestors of the present-day Sumatran rhino – appeared on Earth nearly 20 million years ago.  Sumatran rhinos were once widespread throughout Southeast Asia, occurring from the foothills of the Himalayas southward to the extreme southern tip of Sumatra.  However, hunting for horn and other body parts, in combination with the loss of tropical forest habitat, has resulted in the disappearance of Sumatran rhinos from at least four countries.

Andatu and Ratu – Sumatran Rhinos, Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia

At one time the species probably numbered in the tens of thousands, but today probably fewer than 200 animals survive as small, fragmented populations.  From 14 sites that recorded the presence of Sumatran rhinos twenty years ago, only five still harbor the species:  Bukit Barisan Selatan, Gunung Leuser and Way Kambas National Parks on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve located in Sabah, Malaysia in northeastern Borneo. In addition, 10 animals held in zoos and special sanctuaries in Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States offer a thin sliver of hope that managed breeding programs will serve as a stopgap against extinction.The Sumatran Rhino Crisis Summit has been called to review the present situation and existing strategies for survival, to identify key issues and possible actions, and to gain inspiration from previous endangered species campaigns and important lessons learned.  Wildlife conservationists are encouraged by success stories such as those of the Californian condor, black footed ferret, Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon and red wolf, as well as of the Indian rhino and white rhino – both of which also were reduced to wild populations of less than 200 individuals by the early 1900s.

Sumatran Rhino – Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

The International Rhino Foundation will be represented at the Summit by executive director Susie Ellis.  Other participants will include individuals who have firsthand experience at saving endangered species from extinction, persons whose efforts to save endangered species have not met with success, representatives of institutions that are currently involved in protecting wild Sumatran rhino populations and breeding this species in captivity, current major donors to Sumatran rhino conservation, and interested parties who may help initiate new opportunities for the long-term support of critical programs.

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The International Rhino Foundation is dedicated to saving the world’s five remaining rhino species. To learn how you can help support our Sumatran Rhino Conservation Program, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/sumatran-rhino-conservation-program.

Community Outreach Helps Protect Sumatran Rhinos

Community Outreach Helps Protect Sumatran Rhinos

By Aris Hendriyanto
Protecting wildlife and their habitat is the main job of the Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) in Way Kambas National Park. On patrol we often find illegal activities such as logging, fishing and poaching, and sometimes we have to arrest people.  We send them to the jail, but this doesn’t always stop them.  Sometimes, even after spending time in jail, they return to the national park to cut logs, catch fish, and try to shoot or trap other animals.

Every month our units meet and we discuss this problem. We all agree that it’s important to understand the lives of local people and what makes them break the law.  So, our job is not just to arrest lawbreakers, but also to educate them and help them change their ways.  Each month the RPUs work with the national park staff and meet with local communities, especially the farmers.  This is not our main job, but it is becoming more important all the time.   My friend Bonari and I began community outreach work in the village of Seputih Surabaya, located in central Lampung province. We chose this village because, based on intelligence information, a number of suspected poachers live there.

When we met with the farmers of Seputih Surabaya, we learned that their biggest need was fertilizer for their crops, so we helped them buy fertilizer at a lower cost and plant cacao. This strengthened their trust in the RPUs,and they began to provide useful information about the poaching suspects we had identified.   The farmers made it possibe for us to meet with the suspects and interview them. As a result, a number of former suspects have become reliable informants and have helped warn us of illegal activities before they actually take place.  The prevention program is working well.  Last year, the number of illegal activities in Way Kambas National Park was less than the year before.

Translated and edited by Inov

“R” is for Rhinos: Home Range

“R” is for Rhino … and also for Home Range.

Whether a rhino lives on the African Serengeti, in the foothills of the Himalayas, or in the dense tropical forests of Java and Sumatra, it inhabits what wildlife ecologists refer to as a home range.  This is the area in which it must find all the food, water, and shelter necessary to survive, as well as locate members of the opposite sex in order to reproduce.  Sometimes the home range of one individual will overlap with those of others.  In other cases, one rhino will defend part or all of its home range from intrusion by other species or members of its own kind.  Biologists refer to this defended area as a territory.

The size of a rhino’s home range varies from species to species, from one habitat type to another, from one season to the next, and even between the two sexes.  Field research results also can be mixed depending upon the study methods used and the way in which the home ranges are actually mapped.  However, it appears that the rhino species with the most compact home range may be the greater one-horned or Indian rhino, which prefers wetland habitats in river valleys.  Studies conducted in Nepal’s Royal Chitwan National Park indicate that the average annual home range of a female is slightly less than four square kilometers (about 1,000 acres) and that of a male slightly more.  Studies also show that Indian rhino ranges expand during periods of drought, when animals have to travel further to find food, and shrink during the monsoon season, when increased rains produce lusher, denser vegetation.

Larger home ranges are more common among the two savanna-dwelling African species – the black rhino and the white rhino – and the two tropical forest-dwelling Asian species – the Sumatran rhino and Javan rhino.  Home ranges of female Sumatran and Javan rhinos usually don’t overlap and may cover between eight to 15 square kilometers.  Male home ranges of these same two species tend to be significantly larger, perhaps 15 to 50 square kilometers, and are much more likely to overlap.  Some of the largest home ranges measured are those of black rhinos inhabiting the vast Serengeti.  In fact, it’s not unusual for an individual to roam an area of more than 100 square kilometers. The abundance of waterholes, wallows and salt-licks factors into home range size as much as food availability.

Rhinos typically mark their territories with urine and dung, as well as by scraping the soil with their hooves and rubbing trees with their horns.  Some concentrate their dung in piles called middens, which serve as natural “street signs,” while others kick it into the air to better disseminate their unique scent and advertise their presence.  Given a rhino’s notoriously poor eyesight, the use of olfactory cues helps avoid aggressive encounters.

The Rhinos are Back … After More Than a Decade!

By Boston Kaloko

The Way Kanan river area of Way Kambas National Park provides good habitat for Sumatran rhinos.  It was about 11 years ago, when one of the Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) first took a photo of a Sumatran rhino wallowing in the Way Kanan. That was when we were still using pocket cameras with negative film, so the picture was not very good. A few years earlier, in 1999, we found foot prints of a baby rhino and its mother at the same location, so we were pleased that the rhino population was doing well.

However, in 2000 many local people began moving into the area.  They began planting cassava, hunting, trapping and fishing, and the rhinos started moving away.  Slowly, year by year, human encroachment grew and we didn’t find any more signs of Sumatran rhinos, not even a foot print or a scratch on a tree.  According to our database, signs of rhinos diappeared from the Way Kanan area and the animals moved away to the central part of the national park.

It wasn’t until 2010 that we were able to take action. The RPUs worked with the national park staff, the police department and the army to remove all encroachment from the park. The operation took one full month, but we cleared 3,500 hectares of all illegal activities.  This is a difficult thing to accomplish in Indonesia, so we were very proud of our success.

Since the successful removal of illegal campsand activities,the RPUs and national park staff have carefully monitored the area. In January 2012, about a year-and-a-half later, we found permanent wallows, feeding signs and scratches on trees – all signs that the rhinos were returning. We were surprised and very, very happy. After being gone from Way Kanan for 11 years, the rhinos were back.  And we continue to find their signs when we patrol that area.  In our opinion, the rhinos are paying us back for protecting them.

Translated and edited by Inov

In Memory of Ipuh

Staff at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is mourning the death of Ipuh, a male Sumatran rhino who came to the zoo in the early 1990s.   Ipuh and his former mate, Emi, became famous in the international conservation community for producing three calves – Andalas in 2001, Suci in 2004 and Harapan in 2007 – the first Sumatran rhinos born in captivity anywhere in the world since the 19th century.  The first born, Andalas, was eventually sent to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, where he mated with a wild-caught female, Ratu, and produced a male calf, Andatu, the first of his species born in captivity in its native Indonesia.   Video of Ipuh can be viewed at https://www.yousendit.com/download/UW13bGtNcklOQnh2TzhUQw.

In December 2012, Ipuh’s keepers first noticed that he was moving stiffly and slowly when they entered his barn in the morning, which is not unusual behavior for aging animals.  However, in late January, they began to notice that he was not eating all of his food overnight, which was unusual, and his mobility continued to decline even after he was given medication.  Due to his rapidly deteriorating condition, zoo staff made the very difficult, but humane decision to euthanize Ipuh on Monday, February 18th.   Dr. Terri Roth, Director of the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), is credited with solving the mystery of breeding Sumatran rhinos in captivity.  She remembers Ipuh both fondly and proudly.  “It is always devastating when a beloved animal reaches the end of its life, especially one whose amazing history makes him so special,” said Dr. Roth. “Our hope is that we can honor him by continuing to build on the legacy that Ipuh left behind, through his sons and daughters, as well as the scientific advancements that he contributed to in life.”  It was Dr. Roth who discovered that mating stimulates ovulation in Sumatran rhino females, and it also was her decision to administer hormone supplements commonly used with horses –close relatives of rhinos – to help Ipuh’s mate, Emi, bring her first pregnancy to term.  Emi did not require similar therapy to produce her second or third calves, but it was used successfully again to help Ratu deliver the first calf born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.

Indonesia’s Sumatran and Javan rhinos are the two rarest and most endangered of the world’s rhino species, and arguably the two most threatened large mammals on the face of the planet.  Biologists estimate that only between 150 and 200 wild Sumatran rhinos survive in three Indonesian national parks on the island of Sumatra and as a small, non-viable population in Sabah, Malaysia.  Perhaps as much as 50 percent of the world’s wild Sumatran rhinos has been lost in the last two decades due to habitat conversion for agriculture and to poaching for rhino horn, which some Asian cultures believe contains medicinal properties.   With Ipuh’s death, only 10 Sumatran rhinos now survive in captivity – five in Indonesia, three in Malaysia and two in the United States.  Although he was no longer reproductively active, at an estimated 33 years of age, Ipuh is considered the world’s oldest known and most prolific male Sumatran rhino in captivity, and his death brings into focus the role of captive breeding in the survival of this critically endangered species.   The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden works closely with the International Rhino Foundation, the Indonesian Rhino Foundation, Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, and the IUCN/SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group to propagate Sumatran rhinos in captivity and to protect remaining wild populations. Both approaches are essential to securing the future for Sumatran rhinos.

“R” is for Rhinos: Widodo Ramono

“R” is for Rhinos, and also for …. Widodo Ramono.

Few people have dedicated more years to the study and conservation of Asian rhinos than Indonesian biologist Widodo Ramono. Born on April 4, 1945 in the Central Javan city of Blora, Widodo today serves as the executive director of Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI), the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia. Located in Bogor, YABI is the International Rhino Foundation’s principal partner in programs that are helping to ensure the survival of both Sumatran and Javan rhinos.

Widodo is married with three grown children. He looks remarkable young for someone approaching seventy years of age and credits his general well being to a healthy diet and working outdoors. When not at YABI’s headquarters in Bogor, Widodo spends most of his time at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary or inspecting the work of Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) at Bukit Barisan Selatan, Way Kambas and Ujung Kulon National Parks. He also receives invitations from government authorities and international organizations to speak about rhino conservation efforts in Indonesia, where the final strongholds for the two rarest and most critically endangered species are found.

Following his elementary and secondary school education in Blora, Widodo studied nature conservation at the Senior High School of Forestry in Bogor and later traveled internationally to receive technical training in forestry operations, national park administration, wildlife management, environmental impact assessment, conservation biology and public sector leadership. Since 1969, he has held a variety of civil servant positions in wildlife conservation, notable among them being the head of Nature Protection and Conservation of Ujung Kulon National Park, which now holds the world’s last known population of Javan rhinos – perhaps 40 to 50 individuals. Widodo’s lengthy career has also included the management of Asian elephant populations in southern Sumatra, and development of three Indonesian national parks (Bukit Barisan Selatan, Kerinci Seblat and Way Kambas). After completing his study on State Administration in Lampung, he was appointed forestry operations management chief in Aceh Province. And, as the former Director of Biodiversity Conservation for the Ministry of Forestry, he played a major role in establishing management practices for his country’s national parks, nature and game reserves, recreation forests, and wetlands.Widodo worked for The Nature Conservancy – Indonesia Programs after completing his work with for the Government of Indonesia.

Last June, no one was more gratified than Widodo at the birth of Andatu, the first Sumatran rhino ever born in captivity in Indonesia. The birth took place at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, which Widodo supervises with support from the International Rhino Foundation. However, his celebration regarding this historic birth is tempered by the continued threats that face Indonesia’s remaining rhinos, which means that Widodo Ramono’s job is not yet done.

Rhinos Under the Radar: Introducing Andatu!

Earlier this month, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially declared 2012 the International Year of the Rhino.  And, while there is no official Father’s Day in Indonesia, Andalas the Sumatran rhino would probably choose June 23rd.  That’s the day his mate, Ratu, delivered their first calf and the first rhinoceros ever born in captivity in that country.

Andatu, soon after his birth on June 23rd, 2012

His name is Andatu and he entered the world under the light of the moon, which is not uncommon for rhinos and other wild creatures.  The name Andatu is a combination of both parents’ names.  Andalas is an Indonesian word denoting the island of Sumatra, while Ratu means Queen.  The baby’s name, which rolls so nicely off the tongue, is also a shortening of the Indonesian term “Anugerah Dari Tuhan” and quite fittingly translates as a “Gift from God”.

Ratu and Andatu getting some much needed rest together.

About sixty pounds soaking wet – which he was – the young rhino displayed signs of good health right from the start.  He eagerly began nursing from his mother in the customized boma (enclosure) that was constructed especially for this event, where both animals will have controlled access to the forest while being monitored 24 hours a day via closed-circuit cameras.  Mom will continue to feed on a varied diet of native tropical forest plants and fruits, while baby will suckle milk from her that is apparently lower in solids, proteins and fats than horse, cow or deer milk, but higher in sugar content.  Slowly but surely, Andatu will also sample the surrounding vegetation and learn to identify different solid foods, but he won’t be fully weaned from mother’s milk for at least a year.

One of the first times that Andatu nursed.

If Andatu follows in his father’s footsteps, we can expect him to bulk up in short order.  Andalas was close to a half-a-ton by the time he turned one, and today he’s nearly double that – a little more than the weight of a Smart Car.  Both father and son began life at about twice the weight of the average bicycle, but packaged much more compactly.

Andatu exploring with attentive mother, Ratu, always nearby

Assisting the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary’s veterinarian, Dr. Dedi Candra, with the birth were Australian veterinarian Dr. Benn Bryant of the Taronga Conservation Society and Paul Reinhart, a rhino keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden who has assisted with three other captive Sumatran rhino births before this one.  IRF’s executive director, Dr. Susie Ellis, was also on hand for the delivery and took advantage of this rare opportunity to harvest valuable stem cells from the placenta.

Andatu’s birth offers renewed hope for the future of Sumatran rhinos, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled to 200 or less.  Managed breeding at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary and other special facilities is an integral component in the global management of this species.

This month, in honor of the dedicated fathers and men among us, we are featuring stories of the hard-working members of the Rhino Protection Units in Bukit Barisan Selatan, Ujong Kulon and Way Kambas National Parks. Meet Aris:

Me, Rhinos and My Family
By Aris Hendriyanto RPU Way Kambas National Park

My name is Aris Hendriyanto.  I have been working as an RPU member since 2005.  Compared with other members of the RPU I am still junior.  Most of them have been with the RPU since 1998 or 2000.  I am still learning to be a ‘true’ RPU member like my seniors in the RPU.  When I joined the RPU, I had just married.  I felt so lucky!  I got a wife and also a job!   

Before joining the RPU, I was a member of a Tiger Patrol Unit (TPU). The RPU chose me out of more than 20 people at the time. Only 3 people from TPU could be an RPU member.  I knew that it would take much hard work to be an RPU member.  I was proud to become a member of the RPU and I served 3 months probation before becoming a full member.

One year later, my baby girl was born!  It was an amazing moment but also hard for me.  As RPU staff I had to leave them to patrol at least 15 days per month and also sometimes with high risk because of contact I may have with poachers.  Before the baby, my wife never complained or asked about my work, but after we had the baby she became a bit worried with my job.  I tried to explain to her and also to the rest of my big family.  I learned this from my seniors at the RPU because they said this is normal and they had been through the same thing.

I said to my wife and my family that I work for them and for our life and I enjoy my work and am proud to be an RPU member.  I said that I work with a good team with lots of experience and safe strategies for dealing with poachers.

Step by step, year by year I get through life and work with support from them and my RPU.  I try to make my time with family quality time.  I have to try to balance time between my job and my family.  I learn much from my seniors at the RPU.  They have been through the same things as RPU members.  Together at the RPU we try to be the front line for survival of the Sumatran rhino and also the front line for our family. We cannot do this alone.  We need support from many people and particularly from our donors….