Tam, the last male Sumatran Rhino, has died.
Photo from The Borneo Post
His death is a serious situation for the rhino species, especially for the ones part of the endangered list.
Tam was found "poking around a palm oil plantation in 2008." He was captured and brought to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. They were efforts to breed him with two female Sumatran Rhinos but they were unsuccessful. One of the two female Sumatran Rhino, Puntung, was euthanized in 2017 due to cancer. This left Iman, the other female Sumatran Rhino, as the last female Sumatran Rhino in Malaysia.
The endangerment of this species is due to the loss of their habitat and because of poaching (or the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals) done by us, humans.
Tam's death serves as a wakeup call to find and protect more animals in the wild.
Photo from BBC News
It's still different if these animals were grown in the wild instead of laboratories. If only every government in the world would strictly implement policies against poaching nor deforestation, then they can live longer.
