There are still some in Dutch Borneo, and I saw the recent tracks of one near the top of the high pass between the Poedjoengan tributary of the Bahau and Nahkramo on the Batang Kayan in October, 1945.
Since l947 it has been fully protected, but the western side of the island can only hope to recoup its position if the small surviving stocks in North-west British North Borneo and in inner Dutch Borneo multiply or migrate.
Once abundant in the Upper Baram and Limbang, noticeably around Mt. Batu Lawi, there are now definitely none in these great areas. In 1934 Banks saw fresh tracks of one at over 6,000 feet on Mulu , but my extensive 1946 search of this area revealed no trace of rhino, though old wallows and hunters' trails are still identifiable over a good deal of the interior.
In 1934 Banks saw fresh tracks of one at over 6,000 feet on Mulu , but my extensive 1946 search of this area revealed no trace of rhino, though old wallows and hunters' trails are still identifiable over a good deal of the interior.
Old people in some places say that at one time rhino were so unshy they would come quite close to villages, and in late 1945 one was reported at the edge of a rice-clearing on the Raya River in northern Dutch border (near the North Borneo border).
In 1931 Mr. Banks wrote: `There can at the moment be no fear of Rhinoceros becoming scarce for as many as 36 trophies were brought into Belaga in two years not so long ago, and I have met men who claimed to have shot over 30 in the course of their life time, but it must be evident that such a slow breeding animal cannott stand destruction for long at that rate so that the matter will one day have to be attended to.' Alas, that `one day' came some days too late, and it was precisely such slaughter which, within a few years, virtually exterminated this fine beast in Sarawak. There are now almost certainly no rhinoceros left in Sarawak. There are still some in Dutch Borneo. In North Borneo, where full protection has long been in force, a consider- able number are now believed to survive, mainly in the north-east, according to information from Mr. H.G. Keith.
The slaughter of the rhino has been largely the work of the indefatigable Sarawak Ibans (sea dayaks), especially those of the Rejang River, who have hunted far into Dutch territory and in violation of Dutch law.
Once abundant in the Upper Baram and Limbang, noticeably around Mt. Batu Lawi, there are now definitely none in these great areas. In 1934 Banks saw fresh tracks of one at over 6,000 feet on Mulu , but my extensive 1946 search of this area revealed no trace of rhino, though old wallows and hunters' trails are still identifiable over a good deal of the interior.
Once abundant in the Upper Baram and Limbang, noticeably around Mt. Batu Lawi, there are now definitely none in these great areas. In 1934 Banks saw fresh tracks of one at over 6,000 feet on Mulu , but my extensive 1946 search of this area revealed no trace of rhino, though old wallows and hunters' trails are still identifiable over a good deal of the interior.
Most were shot at close range with muzzle loaders, but there are several good records of Punans blow-piping them, and a man from Belawit in Dutch Borneo speared and killed one many years ago - an act immortalized in a stirring song.
In North Borneo, where full protection has long been in force, a considerable number are now believed to survive, mainly in the north-east, according to information from Mr. H.G. Keith. A single animal was reported in the Upper Padas in early 1946, and was later said to have moved back east.
1949, Borneo, carcass value totalled $300 or more
