Farewell to Tam, the last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died in a wildlife reserve. He had long had severe kidney and liver problems.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himFarewell to Tam, the last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died in a wildlife reserve. He had long had severe kidney and liver problems.
Now only one female Iman remains, and the Sumatran rhino faces extinction in the country, while it is estimated that there are fewer than 80 alive in the world. For this reason, Tam had been brought to Sabah's Tabin Nature Reserve with the aim of encouraging reproduction, but unfortunately the two females present were both sterile.
As we know, Sumatran rhinos are the smallest species of this mammal, the only ones in Asia with two horns and characteristic for their body hair. They live in Indonesia, southern Malaysia and peninsular Malaysia and some specimens also in Thailand. Unfortunately, their survival is at risk from deforestation, illegal hunting and climate change.
Mourning Tam: Sabah’s Last Male Sumatran Rhino. A statement from
Susie Ellis, PhD, Executive Director, International Rhino Foundation https://t.co/RC436YHxzQ pic.twitter.com/VwE4eyX1gU
— IntlRhinoFoundation ? (@RhinosIRF) 27 maggio 2019
Tam was 35 years old and had been rescued after the clearing of a palm oil plantation, since 2008 he had lived in the nature reserve where conservationists had hoped that the rhino would be able to reproduce naturally with Iman and Puntung (also deceased), but the efforts were not enough.
Read also:
- Bella, the white rhino killed to steal the last inch of her horn
- Nearly extinct white rhinos: there are only 6 in the world
- Pandas, tigers and rhinos: extinction alarm by 2050
Dominella Trunfio
