As the old saying warns, it’s bad enough to put all your eggs in one basket. If you have to, though, at least try not to leave that basket sitting on the beach under an active volcano. Unfortunately, that’s basically the situation of the last population of the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus). The Javan rhino […]
Tag: Sumatra
Can Anything Save the Sumatran Rhino From Extinction?
In 2008, a rhino wandered into an oil-palm plantation in Sabah, a state on the Malaysian island of Borneo. It was limping from a snare injury and, for a rhino, was unfamiliar looking: very small—and hairy. When Rasmus Gren Havmøller—a Danish Ph.D. student focused on conservation, ecology, and genetics at the University of Copenhagen—read about […]
30 illegal orangutan pets seized in West Kalimantan
Thirty orangutans being kept as household pets in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province have been seized and placed in a rehabilitation center, local conservation authorities report. Sustyo Iriyono, head of the province’s Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), said he was relieved that the push to save the creatures, conducted jointly with International Animal Rescue (IAR), was […]
Marooned in shrinking forests, Bornean orangutans hang on as disaster looms (Part I)
The great apes are among some of the most endangered species on Earth, the targets of poachers and the victims of deforestation. However, from time-to-time there comes news of hope. A study published recently in Oryx describes the dire situation faced by Bornean orangutans, as well as an ambitious project to help save them. The […]
Sun bear sanctuary to save ‘forgotten species’
Like a proud dad, Siew Te Wong’s office walls and desk are covered in baby pictures, but unlike ordinary infants these possess four-inch claws and a taste for insects and honey. Wong, a leading sun bear researcher, has a heartfelt passion for the world’s smallest bear that is as big as the problems facing the […]
Sumatran tiger density lower than previously thought
The critically endangered Sumatran tiger may be even rarer than previously thought, reports a study published in the journal Oryx. Researchers from Virginia Tech and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) used camera traps to estimate population density in previously unsurveyed areas, including peatlands. They found that tiger density may be only half what was estimated […]
Tigers, orangutans, rhinos: Sumatra’s big mammals on the edge of extinction
Karman Lubis’s body was found near where he had been working on a Sumatran rubber plantation. His head was found several days later a mile away and they still haven’t found his right hand. He had been mauled by a Sumatran tiger that has been living in Batang Gadis National Park and he was one […]
Illegal wildlife trade flourishes in Sumatra
In a chilly rain on Sunday, in a town just a few kilometers beyond the edge of a protected Sumatran rainforest, a young orangutan sat perched on a piece of plywood and grabbed the metal wires of his tiny cage. He has sat in that cage for six months and, like dozens of other species […]