Sumatran rhinoceros

"Hairy rhinoceros" redirects here. For the extinct megafauna, see woolly rhinoceros.

Sumatran rhinoceros
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Recent
↓
Sumatran rhinoceros at Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Lampung, Indonesia
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Genus: Dicerorhinus
Species:
D. sumatrensis[1]
Binomial name
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis[1]
(Fischer, 1814)[3]
Subspecies
  Sumatran rhinoceros range. Note that this map was created in 2007, based on outdated sources published in 1997 and 2003. The Sumatran rhinoceros has been extinct in Malaysia since 2019.

The Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros; it is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus. It is the smallest rhinoceros, although it is still a large mammal; it stands 112–145 cm (44–57 in) high at the shoulder, with a head-and-body length of 2.36–3.18 m (7 ft 9 in – 10 ft 5 in) and a tail of 35–70 cm (14–28 in). The weight is reported to range from 500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb), averaging 700–800 kg (1,540–1,760 lb). Like both African species, it has two horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in), while the other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown hair covers most of the Sumatran rhino's body.

The Sumatran rhinoceros once inhabited rainforests, swamps and cloud forests in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and southwestern China, particularly in Sichuan.[4][5] It is now critically endangered, with only five substantial populations in the wild: four in Sumatra and one in Borneo, with an estimated total population of fewer than 80 mature individuals.[6][7] The species was extirpated in Malaysia in 2019, and one of the Sumatran populations may already be extinct. In 2015, researchers announced that the Bornean rhinoceros had become extinct in the northern part of Borneo in Sabah, Malaysia.[8] A tiny population was discovered in East Kalimantan in early 2016.[9]

The Sumatran rhino is a mostly solitary animal except for courtship and offspring-rearing. It is the most vocal rhino species and also communicates through marking soil with its feet, twisting saplings into patterns, and leaving excrement. The species is much better studied than the similarly reclusive Javan rhinoceros, in part because of a program that brought 40 Sumatran rhinos into captivity with the goal of preserving the species. There was little or no information about procedures that would assist in ex situ breeding. Though a number of rhinos died once at the various destinations and no offspring were produced for nearly 20 years, the rhinos were all doomed in their soon-to-be-logged forest.[10] In March 2016, a Sumatran rhinoceros (of the Bornean rhinoceros subspecies) was spotted in Indonesian Borneo.[11]

The Indonesian ministry of Environment, began an official counting of the Sumatran rhino in February 2019, planned to be completed in three years.[12] Malaysia's last known bull and cow Sumatran rhinos died in May and November 2019, respectively. The species is now considered to be locally extinct in that country, and only survives in Indonesia. There are fewer than 80 left in existence.[13]

  1. ^ Grubb, P. (2005). "Species Dicerorhinus sumatrensis". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 635. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b Ellis, S. & Talukdar, B. (2020). "Dicerorhinus sumatrensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T6553A18493355. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T6553A18493355.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Taxhistory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Chapman, J. (1999). The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China. London: Christie's Books. p. 27. ISBN 0-903432-57-9.
  5. ^ Schafer, Edward H. (1963) The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T'ang Exotics. University of California Press. Berkeley and Los Angeles. p. 83
  6. ^ "Rhino population figures". SaveTheRhino.org. 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  7. ^ Pusparini, W.; Sievert, P.R.; Fuller, T.K.; Randhir, T.O. & Andayani, N. (2015). "Rhinos in the parks: An island-wide survey of the last wild population of the Sumatran Rhinoceros". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0139982. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1036643P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0136643. PMC 4574046. PMID 26376453.
  8. ^ Havmøller, R.G.; Payne, J.; Ramono, W.; Ellis, S.; Yoganand, K.; Long, B.; Dinerstein, E.; Williams, A.C.; Putra, R.H.; Gawi, J.; Talukdar, B.K. & Burgess, N. (2015). "Will current conservation responses save the Critically Endangered Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis?". Oryx. 50 (2): 355–359. doi:10.1017/S0030605315000472.
  9. ^ "15 Bornean rhinos discovered in Kalimantan?". Mongabay. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  10. ^ Nardelli, F. 2014 The last chance for the Sumatran rhinoceros?. Pachyderm 55: 43–53 http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1411778068
  11. ^ "Rare Sumatran rhino sighted in Indonesian Borneo". Fox News. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  12. ^ "To rescue Sumatran rhinos, Indonesia starts by counting them first". Mongabay Environmental News. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  13. ^ Williams, David; Ko, Stella (24 November 2019). "The last Sumatran rhino in Malaysia has died and there are less than 80 left in the world". CNN. Retrieved 27 November 2019.