Throughout South and Southeast Asia and Indochina, populations of Asian elephants and rhinos cling to survival in some of the few remaining homes that sustain them. The future of these spectacular creatures is clearly at risk, for they live in a rapidly changing environment that they must share with humans struggling for sustainable livelihoods.
ASIAN RHINOS
Widely slaughtered for their horn – a highly prized commodity in traditional Asian medicines – and decimated by the destruction of their lowland rainforest habitat, many Asian rhinos now hover on the brink of extinction.
Widely slaughtered for their horn – a highly prized commodity in traditional Asian medicines – and decimated by the destruction of their lowland rainforest habitat, many Asian rhinos now hover on the brink of extinction.
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| Sumatran Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org) |
Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)
The Sumatran rhino – which once ranged from Assam in India to Indochina, Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo – lost at least half its population in the decade from 1985 to 1995. Today, scientists estimate, there may be fewer than 300 wild Sumatran rhinos left in scattered pockets in Sumatra, Borneo, and Peninsular Malaysia.
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| Javan Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org) |
Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus)
Historically, the Javan rhino roamed from Assam through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., Vietnam, Sumatra, and Java. Today, fewer than 60 remain in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, and no more than 10 scramble for survival in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park.
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| Greater One-horned Rhino Distribution Map (Image Source:www.rhinos-irf.org) |
The greater one-horned rhino could once be found from Pakistan all the way through India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. By the turn of the century, this species had vanished from the majority of its range, and today, only about 2,400 survive in India and Nepal.
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| Asian Elephant Distribution Map (Image Source:iucn.org) |
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Killed for their ivory, meat, and bone, and for their live young, Asia’s last remaining elephants continue to decline in number in the face of poaching and habitat destruction. As recently as 1995, only 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants were thought to remain in the wild (as opposed to 10 times as many elephants in Africa). Since then, several populations have dwindled still further, and scientists fear that current populations may have fallen well below 1995 estimates.
Killed for their ivory, meat, and bone, and for their live young, Asia’s last remaining elephants continue to decline in number in the face of poaching and habitat destruction. As recently as 1995, only 35,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants were thought to remain in the wild (as opposed to 10 times as many elephants in Africa). Since then, several populations have dwindled still further, and scientists fear that current populations may have fallen well below 1995 estimates.
Source: panda.org
