Genetics and the last stand of the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis B ENOÎT G OOSSENS,MILENA S ALGADO-LYNN,JEFFRINE J. ROVIE-RYAN A BDUL H. AHMAD,JUNAIDI P AYNE,ZAINAL Z. ZAINUDDIN S ENTHILVEL K. S. S. NATHAN and L AURENTIUS N. AMBU Abstract The Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus in Vietnam (Brook et al., sumatrensis is on the brink of extinction. Although habitat 2011), are we to witness the loss of another rhinoceros loss and poaching were the reasons of the decline, today’s species? Genetic studies have played an important role in reproductive isolation is the main threat to the survival of identifying conservation priorities (Moritz, 1994, 2002;De the species. Genetic studies have played an important role Salle & Amato, 2004; Caballero et al., 2009; Frankham, 2009; in identifying conservation priorities, including for rhino- Laikre, 2010), including for species of rhinoceros (Ashley ceroses. However, for a species such as the Sumatran et al., 1990; Dinerstein & McCracken, 1990; Amato et al., rhinoceros, where time is of the essence in preventing 1995; Morales et al., 1997; Harley et al., 2005; Fernando et al., extinction, to what extent should genetic and geographical 2006; Scott, 2008; Kim, 2009; Willerslev et al., 2009). distances be taken into account in deciding the most However, for a species such as the Sumatran rhinoceros, urgently needed conservation interventions? We propose where time is of the essence in preventing extinction, to that the populations of Sumatra and Borneo be considered what extent should genetic and geographical distances be as a single management unit. taken into account in deciding the most urgently needed human interventions? Keywords Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, extinction, genetics, Since its appearance in the Eocene, the family genome resource banking, Sumatran rhinoceros, threatened Rhinocerotidae has comprised . 40 genera (Guerin, 1989; Cerdeño, 1998). Nowadays it includes only four genera, with a total of five species (but see Groves et al., 2010). The rhinos...are unaware of their precarious existence. Their Comparisons of mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences fate depends wholly on us, on our commitment to protect (including whole mt genomes) of contemporary Asian, them forever. E. Dinerstein (2003) African and fossil rhinoceros DNA suggest that the Sumatran rhinoceros is the most primitive extant species of the family and the closest related living species to the Introduction ancient woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquititas (Morales & Melnick, 1994; Cerdeño, 1998; Tougard et al., ith as few as 216 wild individuals worldwide 2001; Orlando et al., 2003; Willerslev et al., 2009). Formerly (Ahmad Zafir et al., 2011), the Sumatran rhinoceros W existing across South-east Asia, including Thailand and Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is on the brink of extinction. Myanmar, the Sumatran rhinoceros is now Critically Following a recent report by WWF on the fate of the Javan Endangered, with a decreasing population trend (IUCN, 2011), and confined to a few disjunct populations in BENOÎT GOOSSENS* (Corresponding author) and MILENA SALGADO-LYNN* Indonesia (Sumatra) and Malaysia (Borneo). The situation Organisms and Environment Division, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff has been described as a problem of political endemism ff ff University, Cardi , UK. E-mail goossensbr@cardi .ac.uk (Moritz, 2002). In the mid 1980s the governments of JEFFRINE J. ROVIE-RYAN Ex-Situ Conservation Division, Department of Wildlife Indonesia and Malaysia, and international conservation and National Parks, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia organizations, supported management plans that included ABDUL H. AHMAD Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia greater protection of wild populations and habitats, a controversial captive-breeding programme, and research JUNAIDI PAYNE and ZAINAL Z. ZAINUDDIN Borneo Rhino Alliance, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Khan, 1989; Rabinowitz, 1995; Foose & van Strien, 1997 2003 10 SENTHILVEL K.S.S. NATHAN and LAURENTIUS N. AMBU Sabah Wildlife ; Dinerstein, ). Today, there are individuals in Department, Wisma Muis, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia captivity: one female in Cincinnati Zoo and one male *Also at: Danau Girang Field Centre, c/o Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma in Los Angeles Zoo (USA), two males (including a calf) Muis, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, and Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma and three females in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Muis, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. BENOÎT GOOSSENS and MILENA SALGADO- LYNN contributed equally to the work. Way Kambas (Sumatra, Indonesia) and one male and Received 9 September 2012. Revision requested 28 November 2012. two females at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary (Sabah, Accepted 8 January 2013. First published online 9 May 2013. Malaysia). © 2013 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 47(3), 340–344 doi:10.1017/S0030605313000045 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.139, on 26 Sep 2021 at 16:28:19, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605313000045 Sumatran rhinoceros 341 FIG. 1 The distribution of the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis subspecies in Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. The priority areas are Danum Valley Conservation Area (1), Tabin Wildlife Reserve (2), Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (3) and Way Kambas National Park (4). Areas identified by the IUCN Asian Rhino Specialist Group as requiring scientifically defensible population estimates to confirm conservation status are Royal Belum State Park (5), Taman Negara National Park (6), Endau Rompin National Park (7) and Gunung Leuser National Park (8) (Ahmad Zafir presence confirmation still required et al., 2011). Genetics and management relationship between the three populations (Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, and Sumatra; J. Rovie-Ryan et al., The geographical delimitation of the subspecies of rhino- unpubl. data). ceros on Sumatra was previously unclear and the question The three genetic studies (Amato et al., 1995; Morales arose as to whether the populations in Peninsular Malaysia, et al., 1997; J. Rovie-Ryan et al., unpubl. data) were based Sumatra and Borneo (Fig. 1) should be treated as different solely on mtDNA but reliance on mtDNA in phylogenetics management units, to preserve genetic diversity (Foose & has been contentious since 2005 when it became clear that van Strien, 1997). The issue persisted even after the individual genes and species phylogenetic trees are not 2009 meeting of the Sumatran Rhino Global Management always congruent (Ballard & Rand, 2005; Hurst & Jiggins, and Propagation Board (responsible for management of 2005; Rubinoff & Holland, 2005, Wiens et al., 2010). In the the captive population of Sumatran rhinoceros; GMPB case of the family Rhinocerotidae there are difficulties in Technical Committee, 2009). However, in 1995 Amato et al. satisfactorily resolving the rhinoceros phylogeny even using had already confirmed Groves’ division of taxa, grouping the whole mitochondrial genome (Morales & Melnick, individuals from Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia as a 1994; Tougard et al., 2001; Orlando et al., 2003; Fernando single taxon (Groves, 1965, 1967, 1993). Almost in parallel, et al., 2006; Willerslev et al., 2009), and resolution may not Morales et al. (1997) analysed the phylogeographic structure be achieved without additional analyses of substantial of D. s. harrissoni and D. s. sumatrensis. Both studies amounts of nuclear DNA (Willerslev et al., 2009). highlighted the differentiation of the Bornean population as However, the subspecies’ genetic differences, as shown by a separate evolutionary unit. However, for Amato et al. mtDNA in the three separate studies, seem to be minimal. In (1995) the genetic differentiation was not enough evidence to our roles as biologists, wildlife managers, veterinarians and support more than one conservation unit for the Sumatran geneticists closely involved in ongoing efforts to prevent the rhinoceros, whereas Morales et al. (1997) advocated for the extinction of the Sumatran rhinoceros in Sabah (northern treatment of D. s. harrissoni (Borneo) and D. s. sumatrensis Borneo, Malaysia) we strongly believe that the observed (Pensinsular Malaysia and Sumatra) as distinct manage- differences do not justify keeping the Sumatran and ment units. Morales et al. (1997) argued that an average Bornean populations as separate management units. This genetic divergence of 1% between the rhinoceros popu- is now even more so, in view of (1) the low and declining lations of Sumatra and Borneo justified treating them as number of individuals in each Bornean and Sumatran wild separate conservation units. However, a range of 0–4%has population, (2) that at least two of the 10 individuals in been observed between other mammalian conspecifics captivity are too old to breed, and (3) that three of those are (Avise & Lansman, 1983), and 0–2% has been observed closely-related males. among members of the same local population (Nei, 1972). A study of the Javan rhinoceros showed that it had low A recent study requested by the GMPB shows a close genetic diversity and that there was a critical need for © 2013 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 47(3), 340–344 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.139, on 26 Sep 2021 at 16:28:19, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms.