400-600, sumatrensis
A good food supply may keep them in a feeding patch of about ten square kilometers for several weeks
The quantity and distribution of the animal's hair varies from one to another, though it seems most abundant in young animals, and the skin on the face and within the deep folds running round the whole body is usually hairless. The ears are lined with specially thick hair and trimmed with a fringe of longer hairs - one of the animal's earlier Latin names, Rhinoceros lasiotis, might be translated as 'hairy-eared rhinoceros'. The hair, anything from off-white to black in colour, is also clustered in a band down the middle of the back, and on the belly and the outer sides of the legs.
A preliminary survey has shown that the Torgamba district in the eastern part of Sumatra contains enough rhinos to make it a likely source of the first captures. This region has some of the last groups surviving in the lowlands, and the team will start work there in July 1985. The Field Supervisor representing the Howletts Foundation will be Francesco Nardelli.
For most of the time they are nocturnal, wandering about in a large territory, though the males seem to cover more ground than the females.
Verdicts on the rhino's hearing range from acute to rather poor, though most writers agree that it has a well-developed sense of smell, on which it must rely to help compensate for less good sight.
A good food supply may keep them in a feeding patch of about ten square kilometres for several weeks, as they browse on trees and shrubs, taking leaves, twigs, and any fruit in season. Records of their diet include over a hundred plant species from over forty families, though grasses, except for bamboo, do not seem attractive. Salt licks, visited once or twice a month, help to balance this herbivorous diet.
The hair, anything from off-white to black in colour
During the twenties and thirties hunters from Thailand, having virtually exterminated the animal in their own country, crossed the border into Burma and repeated the operation there, even as late as the 1960s.
The horns, smaller in the female, match the body colour, usually a darkish grey.
The quantity and distribution of the animal's hair varies from one to another, though it seems most abundant in young animals, and the skin on the face and within the deep folds running round the whole body is usually hairless. The ears are lined with specially thick hair and trimmed with a fringe of longer hairs - one of the animal's earlier Latin names, Rhinoceros lasiotis, might be translated as 'hairy-eared rhinoceros'. The hair, anything from off-white to black in colour, is also clustered in a band down the middle of the back, and on the belly and the outer sides of the legs.
A good food supply may keep them in a feeding patch of about ten square kilometres for several weeks, as they browse on trees and shrubs, taking leaves, twigs, and any fruit in season. Records of their diet include over a hundred plant species from over forty families, though grasses, except for bamboo, do not seem attractive. Salt licks, visited once or twice a month, help to balance this herbivorous diet.
Although primary tropical rain forest is the rhino's favourite habitat, it has been recorded in other settings, from swamps at sea level to regions as high as 2,500 metres, always preferring the dense undergrowth, which was formerly widespread. Low-lying land has been cleared more easily, so that today the animals, for the most part, are restricted to dense forests in hilly or mountainous areas, which are less readily disturbed by increasing numbers of human settlers, looking for more land to cultivate. Sustained pressure on their habitat inevitably disrupts the animal's usual patterns of behaviour, including those associated with successful breeding.
Verdicts on the rhino's hearing range from acute to rather poor, though most writers agree that it has a well-developed sense of smell, on which it must rely to help compensate for less good sight.
The hair, anything from off-white to black in colour
The horns, smaller in the female, match the body colour, usually a darkish grey.
The travels of the rhino often follow well-marked trails established by other members of his own or different species.
Wallowing rhinos have been heard giving contented buzzing sounds, varied by snorts and grunts, though a series of squeaks seem to be the usual sound of an undisturbed rhinoceros feeding. Captive females have also been known to give loud whistles.
Gestation period1 year
Each of the broad, flat feet bears three nails. The measurements of rhino footprints seem to vary with the quality of the ground, for the soft skin beneath the feet is quite elastic.
Each of the broad, flat feet bears three nails. The measurements of rhino footprints seem to vary with the quality of the ground, for the soft skin beneath the feet is quite elastic.
Agreement 24 May 1985. On Friday, 24 May 1985, an historic agree- ment was signed in Jakarta for the formal establishment of a project for the conservation of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), a project based on close cooperation between the Howletts and Port Lympne Foundation and the Indonesian Directorate-General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation. The signing of the agreement by Professor Rubini, on behalf of the Directorate, and Francesco Nardelli, on behalf of John Aspinall and the Howletts and Port Lympne Foundation, was witnessed and endorsed by the Indonesian Minister of Forestry and the British Ambassador, who described the project as an imaginative illustration of the sort of collaboration between the two countries discussed by the Indonesian President and the British Prime Minister during Mrs Thatcher's recent visit. The whole scheme has been made possible only by the determination and perseverance of both Professor Rubini and Mr Aspinall. The new project will be run as a comprehensive conservation for the species, aimed at ensuring its survival by the protection of viable populations in the wild and the establishment of captive breeding colonies, both in Indonesia and at Howletts. Initially, the capture of four pairs of rhinos is planned, the first and fourth pair to be sent to Howletts, the second and third to be settled in a breeding centre in Indonesia, which will be developed with the help of people and technical advice from Howletts. Permits for the export and import of the rhinos were granted by both governments concerned when the agreement covering the whole project was approved, although all captured animals and their progeny will be owned jointly by the collaborating partners. Howletts will support a team of field workers from its own staff and the Indonesian Directorate of Nature Conservation, which will choose the animals to be captured, concen- trating on those prevented from breeding by destruction of their habitat or other factors threatening their survival. If more than eight doomed rhinos are located, extra ones may be captured, and any which are infertile or die in captivity may also be replaced, if and when others become available. A preliminary survey has shown that the Torgamba district in the eastern part of Sumatra contains enough rhinos to make it a likely source of the first captures. This region has some of the last groups surviving in the lowlands, and the team will start work there in July. The Field Supervisor representing the Howletts Foundation will be Francesco Nardelli. The management of successful captive breeding colonies has become a Howletts speciality, and financial and technical help from this source will include the training of keepers and veterinarians in both Indonesia and England, as well as advice on the care, treatment, and transport of captured rhinos. Help will also be given to plans for increasing the protection of viable groups of rhinos in the wild, especially those in national parks and other sanctuaries. If the captive breeding programme is successful, with numbers of rhinos increasing fast, some of its products may even be able to be sent back to reinforce wild populations.
Sumatran rhinos are solitary animals, except for intervals when a mating pair or a mother and calf live together.
wandering about in a large territory, though the males seem to cover more ground than the females.
A preliminary survey has shown that the Torgamba district in the eastern part of Sumatra contains enough rhinos to make it a likely source of the first captures. This region has some of the last groups surviving in the lowlands, and the team will start work there in July. The Field Supervisor representing the Howletts Foundation will be Francesco Nardelli.
Urine sprayed on the leaves of plants along the trails is a sign of the presence of rhinos, while twisted saplings may show the boundaries of particular animals' territories, especially those of males.
Along these paths, droppings are often left in specific, recognized areas, although rhinos may also defecate in water, if there is a stream or pond nearby.
Main tracks may connect wallowing places too, as it is essential for the Sumatran rhino to have baths or wallows in mud as often as once or twice each day, for several hours at a time, in order to keep its skin healthy, free of cracks, parasites, and inflammation. Streams with stony beds or pools formed by waterfalls are favourite sites for wallows, which may be as large as eight meters across and are usually surrounded by a patch of trampled vegetation. The banks of the wallowing places may be eroded by the animals rubbing their skins or horns against them.
The horns, smaller in the female. The front horn is always the larger of the two, and the horns seem to develop at different rates, for some of the rhinos with the largest front horns on record had mere knobs as back ones. The horns can be replaced if they are lost, for they grow throughout life
On Friday, 24th May 1985, an historic agreement was signed in Jakarta for the formal establishment of a project for the conservation of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), a project based on close cooperation between the Howletts and Port Lympne Foundation and the Indonesian Directorate-General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation. The signing of the agreement by Professor Rubini, on behalf of the Directorate, and Francesco Nardelli, on behalf of John Aspinall and the Howletts and Port Lympne Foundation, was witnessed and endorsed by the Indonesian Minister of Forestry and the British Ambassador, who described the project as an imaginative illustration of the sort of collaboration between the two countries discussed by the Indonesian President and the British Prime Minister during Mrs Thatcher's recent visit. The whole scheme has been made possible only by the determination and perseverance of both Professor Rubini and Mr Aspinall. The two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest of the five species in its group - rarely more than 135 centimetres at the shoulder and one of the most seriously endangered mammals in the world, thanks to the loss of its preferred rain-forest habitat, poaching, and other factors upsetting the normal patterns of the animal's life in the wild. The new project will be run as a comprehensive conservation for the species, aimed at ensuring its survival by the protection of viable populations in the wild and the establishment of captive breeding colonies, both in Indonesia and at Howletts. Initially, the capture of four pairs of rhinos is planned, the first and fourth pair to be sent to Howletts, the second and third to be settled in a breeding centre in Indonesia, which will be developed with the help of people and technical advice from Howletts. Permits for the export and import of the rhinos were granted by both governments concerned when the agreement covering the whole project was approved, although all captured animals and their progeny will be owned jointly by the collaborating partners. Howletts will support a team of field workers from its own staff and the Indonesian Directorate of Nature Conservation, which will choose the animals to be captured, concen- trating on those prevented from breeding by destruction of their habitat or other factors threatening their survival. If more than eight doomed rhinos are located, extra ones may be captured, and any which are infertile or die in captivity may also be replaced, if and when others become available. A preliminary survey has shown that the Torgamba district in the eastern part of Sumatra contains enough rhinos to make it a likely source of the first captures. This region has some of the last groups surviving in the lowlands, and the team will start work there in July. The Field Supervisor representing the Howletts Foundation will be Francesco Nardelli. The management of successful captive breeding colonies has become a Howletts speciality, and financial and technical help from this source will include the training of keepers and veterinarians in both Indonesia and England, as well as advice on the care, treatment, and transport of captured rhinos. Help will also be given to plans for increasing the protection of viable groups of rhinos in the wild, especially those in national parks and other sanctuaries. If the captive breeding programme is successful, with numbers of rhinos increasing fast, some of its products may even be able to be sent back to reinforce wild populations. Current estimates of the total surviving in the wild vary from 500 to 750 individuals, with Sumatra itself, the last stronghold, containing between 400 and 600. The animal was once known in eastern India, Assam, Burma, Malaya, Indochina, Thailand, and Borneo, as well as Sumatra, but very few, if any, still survive in most of these countries, apart from a handful in Borneo, Malaya, and Thailand. As the first detailed description of this little rhinoceros was published nearly two hundred years ago, perhaps a halt in its sharp decline would be a good way of marking the bicentenary of its introduction to the scientific world.
One of the most seriously endangered mammals in the world, thanks to the loss of its preferred rain-forest habitat, poaching, and other factors upsetting the normal patterns of the animal's life in the wild. Even before the destruction of so much of its preferred habitat, hunting was a constant threat to the Sumatran rhino. The prices given for its horn (ground to powder to supply the demand for its reputed aphrodisiac properties) and almost all its other parts, which are said to have medicinal effects, mean that hunters are still eager to trap it in pits or hunt it with weighted spears or poisoned darts. This little rhino seems to have suffered more from poaching than any, other Asian species. During the twenties and thirties hunters from Thailand, having virtually exterminated the animal in their own country, crossed the border into Burma and repeated the operation there, even as late as the 1960s. Counts of the number of horns sent from Borneo and Sumatra, mostly to Singapore and China, show that hundreds of rhinos have been shot or trapped there in the last eighty years. The strong and lasting belief in the power of rhinoceros horn, especially among the Chinese, means that hunters can still sell the product of even a single beast - blood, bones, teeth, skin, as well as horns - at prices high enough to make the risk worth taking. If this trade could be stopped in cities like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok, conservation of the rhino would be given a great boost.
Breeding is slow, perhaps only once in three or four years
Rarely more than 135 cm at the shoulder
Each calf seems to spend about eighteen months with its mother, and no other calf is born during this time.
