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Indonesia to Capture Last-known Wild Bornean Rhino for IVF
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Environment & Climate

Indonesia to Capture Last-known Wild Bornean Rhino for IVF

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Indonesia is attempting to capture the last known wild Bornean rhino, Pari, to preserve the critically endangered species through IVF.
  • The species is a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, and officials hope to use sperm from Sumatran rhinos to fertilize eggs from Bornean rhinos.
  • Conservation efforts face significant risks, as previous rhino translocations in Indonesia have ended in death.

Indonesia's government is launching a high-stakes operation to capture the last known wild Bornean rhino, a female named Pari, in a desperate bid to save the subspecies from extinction through in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

We carried out several simulations using cattle that are roughly the same size as Pari.

— Ari WibawantoThe head of the provincial conservation agency in East Kalimantan describes the preparations for capturing the rhino.

Only two Bornean rhinos are known to exist: Pari, living wild in the Kutai Kartanegara regency, and Pahu, residing in the Kelian rhino sanctuary. Both are female. Officials believe they are genetically close enough to Sumatran rhinos to potentially interbreed, preserving some Bornean genetic heritage. Previous attempts to extract eggs from Pahu, who is around 40 and suffers from health issues, have been unsuccessful.

We strengthened our procedures to make sure they don't cause technical problems, health issues, or behavioral issues, so the animal doesn't get stressed.

— Ari WibawantoAri Wibawanto explains the measures taken to ensure a smooth capture and relocation process.

Pari, appearing younger in monitoring camera footage, represents the final hope. Conservationists have spent months preparing for her capture, employing pit traps and conducting simulations with cattle of similar size. The operation is fraught with peril; rhino translocations in Indonesia have a grim history. A Javan rhino died shortly after a groundbreaking translocation last year, and a Sumatran rhino succumbed to an injury from a poaching trap in 2016.

Sumatran rhinos are larger than Bornean rhinos. So, if we try to mate them manually or through normal natural mating, it is likely that it will not work properly.

— Ari WibawantoAri Wibawanto explains the necessity of using IVF due to the size difference between Bornean and Sumatran rhinos.

A dedicated team is implementing strengthened procedures to minimize stress and technical, health, or behavioral issues during Pari's capture and relocation. Once secured, she will be airlifted for monitoring before egg extraction. The plan involves collecting eggs from Pari and fertilizing them with sperm from a Sumatran rhino outside the womb. If successful, a surrogate mother would likely carry the pregnancy. The conservation body is also exploring cloning possibilities by collecting skin and gum samples. Fewer than 50 Javan and Sumatran rhinos are estimated to remain in the wild, all in Indonesia.

We take egg cells from the Bornean rhino. We collect them and then fertilize them with sperm from the Sumatran rhino outside the womb.

— Ari WibawantoAri Wibawanto details the IVF process planned for the Bornean rhino.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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