Sumatra has some big news to celebrate this World Rhino Day
With just 109 Sumatran rhinos left in the world, word that a wild rhino in Indonesia is pregnant has conservationists excited that her offspring could help bolster the species.
A female Sumatran rhino named Ratu (r.) is seen with her newly-born calf at Way Kambas National Park in Lampung, Indonesia, June 25, 2012. Ratu, a highly endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, is once again pregnant, and due to give birth in May 2016.
AP
The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia had great news to celebrate World Rhino Day on Tuesday: Ratu, one of only 109 Sumatran rhinos in the world, is carrying a baby who just might help save the species.
Ratu, a wild rhino who meandered into the Rhino Sanctuary at the Way Kambas National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra 聽ten years ago and has lived there ever since, is predicted to deliver in May, . At 16 months, rhinos have one of the longest gestation periods in the world: among land mammals, they鈥檙e second only to elephants, whose pregnancies last nearly two years.
The baby鈥檚 father, Andalas, is a Cincinnati native, brought to help Indonesia鈥檚 breeding program in 2007. His younger brother, Harapan, is now the only Sumatran rhino in the United States, but not for long. By early October, he鈥檒l have joined his brother and five other "Ice Age wooly rhinos,"聽in Sumatra.
Their sister Suci's death in March worsened conservationists鈥� fears about the future of the species, the smallest of the world鈥檚 five remaining types of rhino: Indonesia is home to the last 100 in the wild, after they disappeared from Malaysia this year. Their habitat is threatened by deforestation, like so many other creatures, but rhinos hold a particular appeal for illegal poachers, since their horns are used in some cultures鈥� traditional medicines 鈥� and Sumatran rhinos have not one, but two.
鈥淪uci was a symbol of hope for her entire species, one that is quickly losing ground in the wild, and her absence will leave a hole in our hearts,鈥� said Terri Roth, director of the Cincinnati Zoo鈥檚 Lindner Center for Conservation & Research of Endangered Wildlife, in a statement after the rhino鈥檚 death. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 act quickly and boldly, the loss of this magnificent animal will be among the great tragedies of our time.鈥�
There鈥檚 considerable pressure, then, on Ratu and Andalas to raise a calf who can fill that 鈥渉ole in our hearts.鈥� Siti Urbana Bakar, Indonesia's minister of environment and forestry, said the pregnancy 鈥� to save the species."
Although only four Sumatran rhinos have ever been born in breeding facilities, it鈥檚 not the first time for Ratu and Andalas: the pair already have a baby, Andatu, whose 2012 birth was the first in an Asian breeding center in nearly 150 years, according to AFP.
But rhinos could use help from high places. Researcher Christy Williams suggested that intervention from Indonesian President Joko Widodo might help achieve a back-from-the-brink miracle like former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi鈥檚 efforts to save tigers from extinction.
Sumatran rhinos鈥� story also illustrates the importance of international cooperation, even if just for the sake of one more calf. 鈥淥ne more rhino means one percent more animals. That is not a lot but it is certainly an upward trend," Susie Ellis, director of the International Rhino Foundation, told AFP.