KOTA KINABALU: A giant-sized rhino made from balloons now sits in the middle of a shopping mall here with hopes to highlight Malaysia’s three rhinos in captivity.
Survival of the species, declared extinct in the wild last year, hinges on a male named Kertam or Tam and two females Iman and Puntung now kept under close care and surveillance in Tabin, Lahad Datu.
Hoping to bring more attention to the rhinos was Jude Aaron Chong, 37, who had spent a week to construct the rhino sculpture which stood at 12-feet-long and 17-feet-high.
It was part of his own initiative in support of the Balloon Rhino Project, organised by a network of international balloon professionals in Pretoria, South Africa.
The project was aimed at raising awareness and funds against the poaching of rhinos in the Pilanesberg National Park and encouraging participation from other balloon artists to promote the effort in their respective city.
"African rhinos are extremely vulnerable to poaching and Pilanesberg has established itself as a stronghold for the black and white rhino species. The country is fighting the battle to protect them which is among the ‘Big Five’ animals in Africa.
“This project means a lot to me because Sabah is a home to our endangered Sumatran rhinos. Not many people are aware that we have them and that we are also losing our rhinoceros.”
In Malaysia, the first rhino was captured in 1994 in Kinabatangan but the female rhino named Gelugub died in captivity due to old age.
Tam was captured outside the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in 2008 and Iman was captured three years later. In 2014, wildlife researchers made another new rhino discovery when they caught Puntung at the Danum Valley conservation area.
Since then no new rhino was spotted in the wild and effort to produce offspring failed as the two female rhinos had cysts in their reproductive organs.
According to Bernama, Executive Director of Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) Datuk Dr John Payne had said the biggest threat the Sumatran rhino faced was poaching which had caused their number to dwindle to only three in the country.
“Conservationists were on a desperate mission to save the country’s remaining Sumatran rhinos,” he said, adding he believed the species can be saved via In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) among the rhinos left and the next IVF process is in November.