Pursuing conservation success: The Sumatran rhino breeding program

Learn about the Indonesian Sumatran Rhino Sanctuaries’ breeding program, which is working to save Sumatran rhinos from extinction. Photo credit: Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark.

With fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos surviving on Earth, the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuaries are home to the only reproductively viable captive Sumatran rhinos in the world. The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) include two sanctuaries in Indonesia, one located in the heart of Way Kambas National Park in Lampung on the island of Sumatra and the other in the Kelian Lestari Protected Forest in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.

There are seven resident rhinos – adult males Andalas, Harapan and Andatu (born at the Way Kambas SRS in 2012), and females Rosa, Bina, Ratu and her calf Delilah (also born at the Way Kambas SRS in 2016) in Way Kambas; and Pahu in Kelian. All are part of a single conservation breeding program that uses state-of-the-art veterinary and husbandry care to maximize the population growth rate.

All the rhinos at the sanctuaries are under the care of a dedicated group of scientists, veterinarians and animal caretakers who ensure that each animal is healthy. The female rhinos’ reproductive cycles are monitored closely to assure that breeding with one of the males takes place at the best possible time in order to maximize breeding success.

We are doing all we can to bring them back from the brink of extinction. You can support the effort by donating today to fund relocation efforts and the construction of rhino sanctuaries to ensure a future for this species.