Rare rhino in U.S. moving to Indonesia to breed

Carrie Blackmore Smith | The Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Rare Sumatran Rhino Leaving Cincinnati Zoo 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. (Aug. 25)

CINCINNATI — In announcing the end of the Cincinnati Zoo's 25-year-old Sumatran rhinoceros breeding program Tuesday, a zoo official also was frank about shutting down what she calls the world's "most successful breeding program" for the highly endangered species.

“It really makes no sense,” said Terri Roth, the zoo's vice president of conservation and science. “But sometimes we are faced with circumstances beyond our control, and at those times we simply have to make best of the situation.”

Indonesian officials have for years declined to send any rhinos out of their country, Roth said, and there are now only 100 known to exist in the wild, with an additional eight in captivity there.

That is, besides Harapan, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 8-year-old male — the only one of his species living outside of Southeast Asia.

With “heavy hearts,” the zoo decided to send “Harry,” born in Cincinnati, to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia as soon as October, Roth said.

The zoo’s announcement marks the final chapter, it seems, in America’s hands-on role to save the species.

How did the Cincinnati zoo rhino program start?

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.

In the 1980s, Sumatran rhino numbers were dropping and four U.S. zoos worked with the government of Indonesia to save the species.

The parties, including the Cincinnati Zoo, Los Angeles Zoo, Bronx Zoo and San Diego Zoo, agreed to fight for Sumatran rhinos in the wild while creating a captive breeding program in Indonesia and America.

Seven Sumatran rhinos were sent to the United States but zoos encountered “challenges more numerous than ever expected” concerning the animals’ health and fertility, Roth said.

Zoos ran into trouble maintaining skin, eye and nutritional health. The solitary animals were found to be very fickle breeders, Roth said.

But the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, CREW, was able to “unravel the mysteries of reproduction” and breed rhinos here, after the Los Angeles and Bronx zoos sent their females to Cincinnati, Roth said.

Three calves were eventually born in captivity in Cincinnati, more than anywhere else, Roth said.

The first, Andalas, stayed for several years in Cincinnati before being sent to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in 2007 to breed.

The second born, a female named Suci, died last year of iron storage disease, which several species can succumb to in captivity.

Concerns for the species grew so dire that the Cincinnati Zoo announced it would try to mate Suci with her little brother, Harapan. But Suci died before she could produce a calf.

Harapan has since grown into a strong, playful adult, Roth said, fit for the trip abroad.

Why are Sumatran rhinos disappearing?

These two-horned, hairy rhinos face several obstacles, Roth said.

Some are poached, but more often the animals are becoming isolated as their numbers dwindle, reducing their opportunities to breed. And females that don’t breed form tumors that make them incapable of producing offspring.

There are also invasive plants taking over their native food sources.

“It’s something we’ve been grappling with: Where are they going?” Roth said. “We don’t see them dead from natural causes, but the numbers keep going down.”

Roth said they have been spoiled to have them around.

“Unfortunately I don’t think people have realized just how special the Sumatran rhinos have been here at the zoo, and how fortunate we have been to see them and live with them for the last 25 years,” Roth said.

Harapan will be on display until his departure, which zoo officials say will probably happen in October.

Once he leaves, it could well be the last time the general public will get a chance to see a living, breathing Sumatran rhino, Roth said.

“We’re very unhappy,” said Roslyn Friedman, who volunteers every Thursday at Wildlife Canyon, where Harapan lives. “He’s just a very gentle animal. It’s a very sad day for us.”

Preparing for Harapan’s departure, holding onto hope

Zookeepers have begun preparing Harapan for his long journey. A similar trip undertaken by his brother took 60 hours.

His keepers will introduce a big crate in his pen and teach him to sleep, eat and remain in it for long periods of time, Roth said.

The 1,800-pound animal will get vaccinations and other medicine to prepare him to live in the Indonesian forest.

The name Harapan roughly translates to “hope” in Indonesian, and Cincinnati Zoo leaders say they’re holding onto it.

Harapan is not the last of his kind, nor was he the last Sumatran rhino born in captivity. His brother fathered a son in 2012 in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary.

“Science is now a priority in zoos,” Roth said. “We learned a tremendous amount about the species’ care, physiology and reproduction during their living tenure in Cincinnati.”

Now, Harapan can once again be with his brother, this time in the native forests of his species, with female rhinos.

“We will all rejoice when we hear of another birth — a son, a daughter — of either Harapan or Andalas,” Roth said.

Cincinnati Zoo scientists and staff will help however they can, Roth said, but the bulk of the work is now out of their hands, she said.

“Ultimately, the responsibility to save this magnificent species,” said Roth, “now lies squarely on the shoulders of our Indonesian colleagues.”