The decease of a 25 - twelvemonth - sometime femaleSumatran rhinoceroson the island of Borneo means that the species is now officially extinct in Malaysia . bring up Iman , the animal had been the only one of its sort in the country since May , when Malaysia ’s last male passed away .
A critically endangered population of Sumatran rhinos still clingstone to existence in Indonesia , though with fewer than 100 individual remaining , the need to step up conservation efforts and breeding programs is becoming increasingly pressing .
Conservationists had hoped that Iman might playact a starring role in the fight torevive the speciesafter she was captured in 2014 and paired with a male rhinoceros key Tam , who had been residing at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve since 2008 . Yet it was after discovered that Iman was suffering from uterine tumors – maybe result from having gone too long without breeding – and that she was infertile .
All hopes were finally dashed whenTam pass away earlier this year , and after be alone for the retiring six months , Iman has now succumb to her cancer , her carers at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve confirmed . Her dying has been describe as “ a natural one ” by Sabah State ’s surroundings pastor Christine Liew , BBC Newsreports .
There are five mintage of rhinoceros , two that subsist in Africa and three that occupy in Asia . The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest , and has two horns like the two African mintage . The Sumatran , Javan and Black rhinoceros are list as " critically endangered " on theIUCN Red List , while the Amerind and clean rhino are list as " vulnerable " and " near - threatened " , respectively .
While poach and home ground personnel casualty have contributed massively to the specie ’ decline over the past few decades , closing off is now thought to be the biggest threat to the survival of the Sumatran rhino , as they are now so few in number that they seldom get the chance to fill and breed in the wild . female who go too long without mating can develop cysts in their reproductive tracts , rendering them infertile – as was the case with Iman .
Back in the mid-1980s , some 800 Sumatran rhinos were estimated to lodge in the dense timber of Southeast Asia , with their territory reaching all the room up to the foothills of the Himalayas . Yet the grimmest estimates set current numbers at just 30 , raising fears that the species could soon disappear altogether .
