KOTA KINABALU: Hopes for the survival of the Sumatran rhinoceros lie in the cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia for a breeding programme.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the Sabah government still had one remaining female Sumatran rhinoceros, Iman, which is being kept at Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin here.
Liew, who is also state tourism, culture and environment minister, said the 25-year-old rhino was found to have massive uterine fibroids when it was captured in 2014.
“Despite the tumours in its uterus, Iman is still producing eggs which can be harvested.
“Experts from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Germany will assist in the egg harvesting which can be fertilised in the laboratory through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) with sperm from the Indonesian male rhino.
“The embryo produced from this process can then be implanted to a surrogate Indonesian female rhinoceros,” Liew said.
She said the offspring would be kept at the Way Kambas Rhino Sanctuary, Lampung in Sumatra through shared ownership.
“This, of course, can only happen if the Indonesian government agrees,” she said, adding that Sabah planned to resume discussions with Indonesia on the matter.
Meanwhile, autopsy report had ascertained that the last male Sumatran rhinoceros, Kertam, had died on Monday following cardiopulmonary failure.
Liew added that veterinarian Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin and his team conducted a post-mortem on Kertam, or Tam, right after he died yesterday.
“The most visible problem
was his right kidney, which contained numerous abscesses and stones.
“The abscesses were likely caused by a urinary tract infection, which was treated with intravenous antibiotics,” she said.
The report also indicated that the kidney was compromised with severe calculi, which led to the presence of blood in the urine and affected all other organs and blood production. Other findings also include major blood vessels rupture inside the abdomen.
Tam, which was in his 30s, had been sick since April, and had showed a decline in appetite and alertness. He had been given medication since the beginning of this month.
Among them were anti-inflammatories, intravenous infusion of vitamins and minerals, stomach acid reduction medication and tranquilisers.
Liew also said Tam’s tissues had been collected for further examinations and it would take time to get more conclusive results.
In 2017, another female rhinoceros Puntung was euthanised because she was suffering from an incurable cancer.