xeon
31st May 2017, 06:30
Hi all,
Most of you guys may not be aware that one of the worlds most endangered large mammals is the Bornean Rhino, a separate subspecies of the Sumatran rhino. This is by far the smallest rhino in the world and used to live in the dense rainforests of Borneo.
Due to relentless poaching, fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos exist now (mostly in Sumatra), and it is believed to be extinct in the wild in Malaysia.
However, the Borneo rhino is about to completely vanish off the face of the Earth, with a few individuals remaining. Very likely, you can count them all on one hand. There may be a few individuals in East Kalimantan but the last one found died shortly after capture (from a hunter's snare, which are ubiquitous in the region) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornean_rhinoceros
http://thumbnails102.imagebam.com/55113/4f3e75551122873.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/4f3e75551122873)
I hope the scenario where all the rhinos we are left with are preserved ones in the museum doesn't come to pass....but it's looking that way more and more right in front of our eyes, and under our watch.
Malaysia has only 3 individuals (all in captivity), and here's the tear jerker - one of them, a female rhino named Puntung is about to die. She has advanced cancer and is in great pain. :silent:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/05/29/puntung-to-be-put-to-sleep-it-was-thought-she-had-a-dental-infection-but-it-turned-out-to-be-cancer/
She has only three legs after one of her feet got lost to a hunter's snare (before she was captured 10 years ago), and obviously has been through a lot in her short life as a rhino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_aYIqqhAs
Now rhinos don't get enough attention due to them being uncharismatic compared to sea lions or tigers or bears, but they deserve to live just as much as any other animal. The sea lion incident video that Dedukshyn posted has had 28 million views in such a short time. Compare that to the video of Puntung above :facepalm:
There is only one NGO, a small team of people caring for the few rhinos in Sabah, Malaysia right now - Borneo Rhino Alliance. Check out their website http://www.borneorhinoalliance.org/
These guys need whatever help they can get because they lost their funding from an oil palm company (the irony). I've donated to them and plan on donating more periodically, and hope that at least, some of you kind hearted ones would do the same.
PS: Poaching, logging, and large scale clearance of forest for oil palm are very serious problems all across South East Asia, and after seeing photographs of young local guys HAPPILY posing on camera (for social media) with their "kills", I feel extremely disgusted/angry with mankind. Their wanton kills include the clouded leopard, also one of the rarest large cats on earth.
Most of you guys may not be aware that one of the worlds most endangered large mammals is the Bornean Rhino, a separate subspecies of the Sumatran rhino. This is by far the smallest rhino in the world and used to live in the dense rainforests of Borneo.
Due to relentless poaching, fewer than 100 Sumatran rhinos exist now (mostly in Sumatra), and it is believed to be extinct in the wild in Malaysia.
However, the Borneo rhino is about to completely vanish off the face of the Earth, with a few individuals remaining. Very likely, you can count them all on one hand. There may be a few individuals in East Kalimantan but the last one found died shortly after capture (from a hunter's snare, which are ubiquitous in the region) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornean_rhinoceros
http://thumbnails102.imagebam.com/55113/4f3e75551122873.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/4f3e75551122873)
I hope the scenario where all the rhinos we are left with are preserved ones in the museum doesn't come to pass....but it's looking that way more and more right in front of our eyes, and under our watch.
Malaysia has only 3 individuals (all in captivity), and here's the tear jerker - one of them, a female rhino named Puntung is about to die. She has advanced cancer and is in great pain. :silent:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/05/29/puntung-to-be-put-to-sleep-it-was-thought-she-had-a-dental-infection-but-it-turned-out-to-be-cancer/
She has only three legs after one of her feet got lost to a hunter's snare (before she was captured 10 years ago), and obviously has been through a lot in her short life as a rhino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7_aYIqqhAs
Now rhinos don't get enough attention due to them being uncharismatic compared to sea lions or tigers or bears, but they deserve to live just as much as any other animal. The sea lion incident video that Dedukshyn posted has had 28 million views in such a short time. Compare that to the video of Puntung above :facepalm:
There is only one NGO, a small team of people caring for the few rhinos in Sabah, Malaysia right now - Borneo Rhino Alliance. Check out their website http://www.borneorhinoalliance.org/
These guys need whatever help they can get because they lost their funding from an oil palm company (the irony). I've donated to them and plan on donating more periodically, and hope that at least, some of you kind hearted ones would do the same.
PS: Poaching, logging, and large scale clearance of forest for oil palm are very serious problems all across South East Asia, and after seeing photographs of young local guys HAPPILY posing on camera (for social media) with their "kills", I feel extremely disgusted/angry with mankind. Their wanton kills include the clouded leopard, also one of the rarest large cats on earth.