Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wanted — rhinos for breeding in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah wildlife officials are on the lookout for more rhinos to take part in an ongoing breeding programme of the highly endangered animals.

State Wildlife Department director Laurentius Ambu said they were hoping to capture more of the elusive animals, particularly those that were capable of breeding.

Researchers have estimated that there are fewer than 30 rhinos in the wild in Sabah and most of them are within the Tabin wildlife sanctuary and Danum Valley conservation area in Sabah's east coast.

The breeding programme is being carried out at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin where wildlife researchers are hoping to get a male named Tam to breed with two females named Puntung and Gelogob.

The sanctuary was given a boost recently when the Sime Darby Foundation provided an additional RM6.4mil grant for the various rhino conservation programmes there.

Since 2009, the foundation has provided RM5mil that went towards patrolling for poachers, maintenance of the paddock and facilities, rhino quarantine facilities and other operational costs.

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