The Sum atran
Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is a member of the family
Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It is the smallest
rhinoceros, standing about 120–145 centimetres (3.9–4.8 ft) high at the
shoulder, with a body length of 250 centimetres (98 in) and weight of
500–800 kilograms (1100–1760 lb). Like the African species, it has two
horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 centimetres (6–10
in), while the other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown
hair covers most of the Sumatran Rhino's body.
Members of the species once ranged throughout rainforests, swamps and
cloud forests in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and China, where they survived into historical
times in the southwest, particularly in Sichuan.They are now critically
endangered, with only six substantial populations in the wild: four on
Sumatra, one on Borneo, and one on peninsular Malaysia. Their numbers
are difficult to determine because they are solitary animals that are
widely scattered across their range, but they are estimated to number
around 300. The decline in the number of Sumatran Rhinoceros is
attributed primarily to poaching for their horns, which are highly
valued in traditional Chinese medicine, fetching as much as US$30,000
per kilogram on the black market.The rhinos have also suffered from
habitat loss as their forests have been cleared for lumber and
conversion to agriculture.
The Sumatran Rhino is a mostly solitary animal except for courtship
and child-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. The program was considered a disaster even by
its initiators, with most of the rhinos dying and no offspring being
produced for nearly 20 years, an even worse decline than in the wild. |
