(UTV|COLOMBO) – The future of the critically endangered Sumatran rhino has been struck a blow, with the death of Malaysia’s last male.
The rhino once roamed across much of Asia, but has now almost disappeared from the wild, with fewer than one hundred animals believed to exist.
The death of Tam, who lived at a wildlife reserve on the island of Borneo, was announced on Monday.
A female called Iman is now the only remaining member of the species in Malaysia.
After decades of deforestation and poaching, it’s now thought only 30 to 100 Sumatran rhinos remain in the wild, most on the nearby island of Sumatra.
Tam was aged 30 or more and had been living at a reserve in the Malaysian state of Sabah since being discovered wandering in a palm oil plantation in 2008.
Efforts to breed him with two captured females proved unsuccessful.
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