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Rhino Resource Center: Rhino Forums > Rhinos In Situ > National parks in Asia > Good News from Sumatra

Posted by: Feddi Oct 21 2007, 09:07 PM

Excellent news from Sumatra. The RPU are doing a brillian job and there are reports there is an increase in sumatran rhinoceros populations in two areas. A survey by the Rhino Protection Unit (RPU) and Yayasan Badak Indonesia in 2007 found the population of the rare animal had risen by between 24 and 30 rhinoceroses. These good news come both from Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Way Kambas National Park. See http://www.planetmole.org/indonesian-news/sumatran-rhino-population-increases-lampung-sumatra.html So not all gloom and doom! Best Wishes

Posted by: JJ_thomas Oct 22 2007, 07:35 PM

Great news! A 25% increase is very impressive. How did they conduct the survey?

Posted by: Tom Oct 28 2007, 10:48 AM

Hi Feddi, It's so nice to get some good news now and then concerning rhinos. Most news is just so depressing. It only shows that with enough dedication and conviction we humans cannot only do damage but reverse it as well. Although the struggle to conserve rhinos is a very difficult one. I hope this trend will continue and they will be able to reverse the decreasing trend of the rhino populations in the other Sumatran parks as well. Thanks for the info! Tom

Posted by: Feddi Oct 28 2007, 04:08 PM

Thanks Tom Couldn't agree more. So important to remember that good things do happen from time to time. Additionally these rhino protection units are doing so important and difficult work. On the subject of how they operate and do these surveys is a very interesting science. They divide the forest down into areas and then look for signs of rhinos, like evidence of browsing, dungs, wallows and tracks etc. In Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park they also see the rhinos occasionally. They also use some mathematical models to estimate the pobulation sice. Well beeing a psychiatrist my self and "a bit of a crap" in mathematics, I guess some of our members will have much better knowledge to explain how these surveys are really done. Anyone? Kind regards

Posted by: rabiahsalwa Nov 5 2007, 07:13 PM

hi everyone.. it's great to hear the news that the sumatran rhinos in indon is increasing..25% increase is really a big number to this "critically endangered" species..after many years, what we heard was almost dissapointing for sumatran rhinos..so, this is really a great great news..how rhinos increased so much in bukit barisan n way kambas?

Posted by: wulan_indo Feb 18 2008, 08:28 AM

Hai All, Quick introduction: my name is wulan and working for rhino protection unit in Indonesia. Right now we are conducting survey in both Bukit Barisan Selatan NP and Way Kambas NP. The method we use is single spesies, multiple-seasons occupancy models, following MacKenzie et. al. 2006, based on presence-absence data of rhino's signs. Nico van Strien once said, 'in a well protected natural habitat sumatran rhino can double its population number within 10 years'. Combine with sound science monitoring process; we are optimist to reverse the decreasing population trend. In our last survey at Bukit Barisan, the survey team encounters an adult male rhino! And in Way Kambas we found fresh track of rhino and recently used wallow. Hope to post you another good news soon Best, Wulan

Posted by: Feddi Feb 18 2008, 08:28 PM

Thanks Wulan Really nice to hear from you. Thanks for the informations, I have a massive respect for your difficult job. Great you are getting the good news too! Listen keep us posted and the very best of luck All the Best

Posted by: Duncan Feb 19 2008, 10:17 AM

I am very interested in the method that was used to get the new population estimate. I have not come across the paper by MacKenzie et. al. 2006, and I will track it down. When I did a population estimate for black rhino in Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe, I exclusively used indirect signs over a period of a year, and then followed up with a concentrated effort of covering a section of the park over a 10 day period. Most of the records were of spoor (foot prints), which we tried to separate out between the two sexes. The end result appears that we had overestimated the population. I had separated sub populations out spatially using common sense, i.e. spoor from a mother and calf are two animals that are not the same animal with just one set of spoor. It was a bit rough and ready, but indications are that we over estimated the population by as much as double. I will track down the paper that is mentioned by wulan_indo and see how it describes the method. Duncan

Posted by: wulan_indo Feb 20 2008, 05:51 AM

Hai Duncan, Thanks for your reply Actually it's a book: 'occupancy estimation and modeling, inferring patterns and dynamics of species occurrence', try check http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/706666/description the idea is to use presence-absence of species occurrence to calculate species occupancy as surrogate for population size, but now models to estimate population number from occupancy is already being developed, it allows to include the calculation of covariate and detection probability in to analysis. Here I attach a paper, hope it's useful In the past years we only estimate the population based on its footprints' plaster cast and signs, and I agree with you, it usually involve a 'common sense' (which I prefer called 'biological sense') judgment in the analysis. You might want to contact Arief Rubianto (arief_yabi@yahoo.com) to discuss about the individual identification based on footprint and signs. Right now, both of the methods are use side by side in order to strengthen the analysis result. I am responsible for the Occupancy survey and we have collaborated with wildlife conservation society in doing it. It is a rapidly developing new method with a strong intention for large scale survey; recently it is applied to the whole Sumatra as part of Large Mammal Survey, collaborating with various NGO. Have to tell you all, I’m a newbie in the rhino conservation; hope to learn a lot from all of you Cheers, wulan

Posted by: Willem Feb 21 2008, 12:09 AM

Wulan, Thanks for joining the forums and for sharing your expertise. By uploading a pdf, which is great, I noticed yet another minor flaw in our RRC system. Opening a pdf from within a post does not work. Thanks for that! I will take care of this error in due course. In the mean time I added the reference to the literature database: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1203551946 It is however not solely related to rhinos, so I might need to discuss whether or not it should be listed here and if this infringes with copyright law. For now, have a quick look and thanks again Wulan. Regards, Willem van Strien