KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department has announced with great sadness the death of the last remaining male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia, named Tam, today.
State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew said she was informed of the sad news by the department director Augustine Tuuga.
“Regrettably, Tam died at mid-day, around noon on Monday (May 27). Invariably, everything that could possibly have been done, was done, and executed with great love and dedication.
“His last weeks involved the most intense palliative care humanly possible, rendered by the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) team under veterinarian Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu,“ she said in a statement here.
According to Liew, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, the precise cause of death will be clearer later, after an autopsy has been conducted.
However, she said, Tam’s death was certainly related to old age and involved multiple organ failure.
At the time of his capture at an oil-palm plantation in Kretam, Tawau in August 2008, he was thought to be in his mid-twenties, meaning that he was now well into old age for a Sumatran rhino.
Looking on the positive side of things, the minister said the one bright spot is that Tam’s living genome is preserved in cell culture.
“We hope that with emerging technologies at cell and molecular level, he may yet contribute his genes to the survival of the species,“ Liew added.
Liew said Tam’s caretakers and Dr Zainal were with the rhino when he died.
His age was around 35 years and considered quite old for a rhino.
After his capture, he was brought to the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin.
“He was healthy all this while. His sickness condition appeared in April this year and deteriorated in May until his death today (May 27),“ said Liew.
On the fate of the remaining female rhino named Iman, the minister said her ministry still hopes to be able to co-operate with the Indonesian government in terms of a proposed breeding programme.
“Iman is about 25 years old. Unfortunately, it has a reproductive pathology problem. When it was captured in 2014, it was found to have massive uterine fibroids. 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 egg harvesting.
“The egg can be fertilised in the laboratory through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) with sperm from the Indonesian male rhino. The embryo that can be produced from this process can then be implanted to a surrogate Indonesian female mother rhino,“ Liew explained.
According to her, the offspring will be shared ownership with Indonesia whereby it will remain there at the Way Kambas Rhino Sanctuary, Lampung in Sumatra.
“This, of course, can only happen if the Indonesian government agrees officially,“ she said, adding that Sabah plans to resume discussions with Indonesia. — Bernama
