Cincinnati Zoo scientists, zookeepers, volunteers and visitors have fallen in love with playful, gentle Harapan, but Roth said keeping him in Cincinnati would unfairly condemn him to a life of solitude.
Advertisement
According to estimates, these small, hairy species of rhinos are only 100 in the wild and nine in captivity around the world. The eight-year-old Harapan is mature enough to mate, which will soon be flown to south-east Asia, the zoo officials said at a press conference.
“For many years we were hopeful we would receive a female”.
Harapan, the only Sumatran rhino living outside Southeast Asia, is leaving the Cincinnati Zoo to become part of a breeding program for the endangered species in Indonesia.
They dropped the idea of bringing receiving potential mates from Malaysia, the only other country with captive Sumatran rhinos, after learning that only infertile females existed in the country.
Harapan’s breeding partner, a female Sumantran rhino named Suci, died in Cincinnati on March 30, 2014 to an illness called iron storage disease.
In order to save the species, researchers suggest that safe regions be implemented where the rhinos can breed, otherwise known as intensive management zones, and place isolated rhinos into these areas so that they can reproduce safely.
But before two-horned Harapan can embark on the journey to the other side of the world, he has to be conditioned to spend the long flight time inside a crate. After Harapan departs from Cincinnati, the public will only see Sumatran Rhinos in photos. However, it says it welcomes any technological or scientific assistance for the Sumatran rhino breeding program. Harapan is expected to leave the zoo in October.
“The conclusion of experts is that Harapan has to be saved”, he told reporters. Roth said it would mostly likely travel by plane, ferry and truck to get to the sanctuary, a trip that took Andalas almost 60 hours.
“Science is now a priority in zoos”, Roth said.
This is Harapan. He has an important mission coming up in several weeks’ time.
Roth stated last particulars and permits are nonetheless being labored out so the switch timetable is unsure.
Advertisement
“Ultimately, the responsibility to save this magnificent species”, said Roth, “now lies squarely on the shoulders of our Indonesian colleagues”.
