Partner incompatibility can cause the mating process to fail. This double-horned species has a certain kind of aggressive ritual perhaps to assess the worthiness of a potential mate before reproducing. Encounters that occur outside that time window will be futile, and would not produce offspring.Įven if a meeting does take place at the right moment, it may not develop into a meaningful union between the rhinos.

However, at the same time, the Sumatran rhinos are becoming more fragile due to their peculiar physiology and mating behavior.įemale Sumatran rhinos have only one reproductive cycle every 18-24 days, while the fertility window only lasts 24 to 48 hours. Critical situations like these can only be alleviated by increasing the birth rate of rhinos.Īustralia has failed greater gliders: since they were listed as 'vulnerable' we’ve destroyed more of their habitat Under these circumstances, poaching bans and habitat protection will not be enough to prevent extinction. This is the Sumatran rhino’s main vulnerability today. Individual interaction, let alone finding a companion, will be challenging. Imagine if this happened to humans, and our species consisted of only 100 surviving individuals, split into five groups on two islands – thousands of kilometers apart. This phenomenon begins with the decline in the animal population in a certain area, which then leads to a decrease in their ability to reproduce. The rhinos then experienced a phenomenon known as the Allee Effect. Rhinos became one of the main targets.Įventually, these rhinos lived an isolated life from one another, while their population continued to decrease. As a result, the Sumatran rhino’s populations were driven to the corners of their forests – often fragmented and isolated.Īs time went by, poaching activities also intensified with various hunting tools. However, within the last few decades, human activities have increased dramatically.Įxtractive industries and large-scale plantations transformed the landscape of Sumatra. When the world’s forests were still intact and human disturbance was still rare, Sumatran rhinos could easily and safely explore, obtain, and enjoy their food and interact with one another. In addition to the need for food, rhinos also need habitats that allow them to wallow. In order to sustain their lifestyle, rhinos require a diverse range of habitats, including sites for wallowing. Rhinos can look for food in the edge of forests, where a lot of seedlings, herbaceous plants, and other food are easily accessible. Rhinos also often roam in forest gaps, such as those that have been cleared due to fallen trees where regrowth takes place. In the rain forest habitat, rhinos feed on lower stratum plants such as the ginger family ( Zingiberaceae), seedlings or young trees from the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), and even Gluta plants ( Gluta spp.) that cause rashes when eaten by humans. They consume hundreds of different plants. Rhinos are herbivores that feed on leaves, buds, and twigs. Over time, challenges continued to arise due to their not only shrinking but also scattered population. It is not an easy task to save the Sumatran rhinos, but it is not impossible either. These individuals are dispersed throughout Aceh, Lampung, and Kalimantan. Recent assessment by the IUCN stated that the overall number of Sumatran rhinos is no more than 80 individuals – only 30 among them are adults. The Sumatran rhino was once common across Asia, but its population worldwide has decreased by 80% in just three decades. I will then highlight urgent actions needed to save them. Conservation efforts of the Sumatran rhino, on the other hand, have faced their own set of challenges.īased on more than a decade of my experience to support monitoring, protection, and policy-making, as well as extensive communication with activists in the field, here I will explain the Sumatran rhinoceros’ unique conditions.

Sumatran rhinoceros drawing