Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Pregnancy Of Rare Rhino Being Monitored

Pregnancy Of Rare Rhino Being Monitored
Wildlife scientists say they are carefully monitoring the pregnancy of a Sumatran Rhino, one of the world’s most endangered species, at an Indonesian sanctuary. The rhino named Ratu at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park is in the 11th month of a pregnancy expected to last four or five months longer, the International Rhino Foundation said. Ratu’s first two pregnancies ended in miscarriages and she is being given hormone supplements this time, sanctuary officials said. Ratu is one of four resident rhinos at the 250-acre sanctuary established in the late 1990s by the International Rhino Foundation, the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia and Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry. Sanctuary workers are monitoring Ratu’s pregnancy by weighing her weekly and conducting regular ultrasound exams. The Sumatran rhino is one of the world’s most critically endangered species, with no more than 200 individuals in Indonesia and Malaysia, and face pressure from loss of habitat and poaching.