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Sumatran rhino seen for the first time in a part of Borneo in 40 years
"This is an exciting discovery and a major conservation success"
For the first time in 40 years, a species of rhino has been seen in Kalimantan, the Indonesia part of Borneo.
The Sumatran rhino, a female, was caught in a pit trap on March 12. The World Wildlife Fund made the announcement of this discovery on Tuesday.
Sumatran rhinos are one of only two species that exist in Indonesia.
“This is an exciting discovery and a major conservation success,” said Efransjah Efransjah, the CEO of WWF-Indonesia. “We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species.”
The WWF has suspected Sumatran rhinos were not necessarily extinct there when they discovered footprints and caught one on camera.
The rhino will soon be transferred to a protected forest a few hundred miles away.