Sumatran rhinoceros  (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)

Numbers of the Sumatran rhinoceros are today worryingly low at fewer than 300 individuals (6). Hunting for medicinal properties associated with many parts of the body and particularly the horn, has occurred for centuries; although it is illegal today, poaching remains one of the principal causes of the declining population (2). Much of the lowland forest habitat of this rhinoceros has been lost due to intensive development and the small, fragmented populations that remain may be too small to be viable, with reduced genetic diversity and increased vulnerability to chance events (2).

The Sumatran rhinoceros is fully protected within its native countries and is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which prohibits international trade (2). The extent of illegal trade that still occurs is investigated by TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and the IUCN), and replacements for rhinoceros horn in traditional medicine are being investigated (2). Existing reserves need to be expanded and habitat corridors and buffer zones created so that these rhinoceros can coexist with their human neighbours (2). In 1998, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) launched the Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS), which aims to tackle this issue in key areas of the continent (9). Captive breeding programmes have proved unsuccessful in the past, but recent attempts to breed rhinoceros within sanctuaries in their natural habitat appear to be more encouraging (2).