Borneo rhino’s part of RM110mill pledge
LAHAD
DATU: Sime Darby Foundation (YSD) has pledged more than RM110 million over the
next 10 years for environmental projects.
YSD
chief executive officer Yatela Zainal Abidin said this reflected the
foundation’s commitment to environment conservation, becoming a valuable
intermediary in raising public awareness on important environmental causes.
“The
RM110 million includes funds allocated for the Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary
(BRS) project to save the Sumatran rhinoceros, among the most critically
endangered species in the world,” she said during a media visit to the BRS
located in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve here.
Yatela
said other environmental causes which stood to benefit from the funds were the
Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) project, the restoration and
protection of orang utan habitat in Ulu Segama – both projects located in Sabah
and the Hornbill conservation project in Belum-Temengor Forest Complex (BTFC)
in Perak.
Alluding
to BRS, Yatela noted that YSD had committed a substantial RM11.4mill over six
years until 2015 to fund the sanctuary’s operations, working closely with the
Borneo Rhino Alliance and the Sabah Wildlife Department.
She
said that there were probably less than 100 Sumatran rhinoceros left in both
Malaysia and Indonesia.
“YSD
has committed so much resources to save the species and although the scenario
looks bleak, we’ll support all efforts to save them.
“We
have no other alternatives now as it’s evident that we can’t just rely on the
natural breeding process. We have to look at scientific approaches,” she said.
Yatela
said the development of advanced reproductive technology was one of the options
which might be able to boost rhinoceros births and bring about a positive turn
to the three-decade struggle to save the Sumatran rhinos.
Media
representatives, who joined the two-day media visit to the BRS, had the
opportunity to observe a female Sumatran rhinoceros named ‘Iman’.
There
was initial excitement when it was thought that Iman might be pregnant however
checks revealed that it had been a mass of large tumours located in her uterus.
Joining
Iman were a male and female rhinos, respectively called ‘Tam’ and ‘Puntung’.
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