SINCE the signing of an MoU with the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) in November 2010, the German-based Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF) has been active in Sabah identifying crucial areas for habitat connectivity, purchasing land and restoring forest.
AS NOTED by Tuan Roland Nuin (Deputy Director of Sabah Wildlife Department) , after the deaths of rhinos Tam and Iman in 2019, the national Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources requested that my NGO, Borneo Rhino Alliance, or Bora, write a book to explain the background leading to the first extinction of a mammal species in Malaysia.
This was after years of effort to protect the species in the wild and following decades-long efforts to form a captive breeding programme.
I am fortunate to have quite a long background involvement with this rhino species, starting in the 1970s, in both Malaysia and Indonesia.
I spent much time between 1980 and 1986 surveying for the species in eastern Sabah.
The book outlines many aspects of this rhino.
Today I choose just a few points that I feel are most significant.
The real reasons
So why did this rhino species go extinct in Malaysia?
Let me tell you upfront, the extinction has little to d