They eat a wide variety of plants and fruit, so a tropical forest provides them with plenty of opportunity to forage. The last living Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysian Borneo died in 2019. The Sumatran rhino is very well suited to the dense foliage found in these regions. Snare traps can be lethal to Indonesia’s nearly extinct animals, like the Sumatran rhino. The Sumatran rhinoceros once enjoyed a continuous range north to Burma, Bangladesh and eastern India. This is the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary – an area of 100 hectares of high-quality rhino habitat in Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia. Sumatran rhinoceros, (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), one of three Asian species of rhinoceroses and the smallest living rhinoceros. The Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is on the brink of extinction. Author of. Being very agile also means that the Sumatran Rhinoceros can handle steep slopes with ease, giving it more variety in terms of habitats in which it … The current wild population of the Sumatran Tiger is currently estimated below 400 individuals. 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Rhino Protection Units, Facing habitat loss, encroachment by humans, and poaching for their horns, something had to be done to protect Indonesia’s two species of rhinos (Javan and Sumatran) from disappearing.On August 31 in 1995, the line was drawn and the first Rhino Protection Units were formed to guard rhinos and other wildlife from poaching threats. They have been seen in Sumatra, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, and Borneo. It is the smallest rhinoceros, although it is still a large mammal; it stands 112–145 cm high at the shoulder, with a head-and-body length of 2.36–3.18 m and a tail of 35–70 cm. Omissions? The Sumatran rhino has a number of adaptations that help it survive and live in its natural habitat. They search for food rich areas to create their dens, but often move quite a bit during the changing of the seasons, to look for areas that still have dense shrub and grass. However, being a species which existed before the end of the Pleistocene, it is likely that this was not the habitat in which they evolved. Sumatran rhinos prefer lower altitudes, especially secondary forests where low-growing plants are more abundant. Plus, the resulting small populations have slowly decreased in size as death rates outpace birth rates. If you value this objective and impact-driven journalism, please consider becoming a sustaining member. Today, there are fewer than 80 individual Sumatran Rhinos left on Earth, as the result of poaching and habitat destruction. But over the past century, its population has been nearly erased as a result of poaching and habitat loss. Sumatran Rhino Habitat. Help save Sumatran rhinos from extinction by donating to the International Rhino Foundation! Experts estimate that Way Kambas is still home to at least 15 Sumatran rhinos, making it one of only two wild populations in the world large enough to … Former Chief Scientist and Vice President of Conservation Science, World Wildlife Fund. Mongabay is a U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform. Located in the heart of Way Kambas National Park on the island of Sumatra, the SRS is home to the only reproductively viable captive Sumatran rhinos in the world. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary is a safe haven for rhinos which is 250 acres of natural habitat which has 5 rhinos living there and is the major focus of a breeding … In 1996, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) built the 250-acre Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in partnership with local NGO Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI). Sumatran rhinoceroses are the most ancient of the five remaining rhinoceros species worldwide and the most unusual in that they are covered in long body hair. They can be found in higher and lower elevations of the forests. As with other rhino species, they are under threat from poaching because of the erroneous perception that their keratinous horn holds medicinal properties. “Habitat is an important component for Sumatran rhinos and other wildlife for them to eat, drink, breed and socialize,” Rudi said, noting that an individual rhino needs up to 6 hectares (15 acres) of foraging area every day. The rhino population in Leuser is split up across four habitats. Our biweekly podcast delivering news & inspiration from nature’s frontline. The number of Sumatran rhinos has dropped an estimated 70 percent in the past two decades, mostly due to poaching. Believed to survive today, scattered across isolated and fragmented habitats in Indonesia, in isolated pockets short from... 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