Although veterinarians and staff at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, where Tam had resided since his capture in 2008, provided constant palliative care in the days preceding his death, the rhino eventually succumbed to worsening health complications. Thanks to poaching and habitat loss, the species’ population now stands at fewer than 80 members, most of whom are scattered across the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.Īccording to environmental news site Mongabay, Tam’s keepers first noticed changes in the roughly 30- to 35-year-old rhino’s appetite and alertness toward the end of April. His passing, following close on the heels of the June 2017 euthanization of a 20-year-old female, Puntung, represents a significant blow to the two-horned creatures’ chances of long-term survival. Tam, Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhino, died Monday, leaving just one sole survivor of the species-a female named Iman-living in the southeast Asian country.
Experts believe as few as 20 unrelated Sumatran rhinos could hold enough genetic diversity to save their species from extinction
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