Rare Sumatran Rhino Found for First Time in 40 Years
The female animal is being moved to a more secure location in an attempt to bolster the endangered species.
The rhino is thought to be between four and five years old. It was captured safely in a pit trap in Kutai Barat in East Kalimantan on March 12. The animal is being held in a temporary enclosure before it is airlifted via helicopter to a more secure place about 93 miles (150 kilometers) away.
There, the rare rhino will be better protected from poachers in what officials hope will become the second Sumatran rhino sanctuary in Indonesia. At least three other animals are expected to be moved there in the near future, in the hopes of starting a more stable breeding population.
“This is an exciting discovery and a major conservation success,” Efransjah Efransjah, the CEO of WWF-Indonesia, said in a statement.
