Some rhinos in human care don’t reproduce well, which complicates efforts to sustain these important insurance populations. Scientists have worked for years to develop reliable means of artificial reproduction, with limited success.

Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhinoceros, Tam, has died—a serious blow for the critically endangered species, which is already extinct in the country.

The last male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia has died of old age, dashing efforts to save the critically endangered species in the country.

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia's last remaining male Sumatran rhinoceros, affectionately called Tam, has died today.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga said serious concerns were growing over the health of the rhino named Tam, whose appetite and alertness had declined abruptly since late April this year.

As lead veterinarian of the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (srs) on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, he watched as the rhino named Ratu gave birth to her second calf. The calf, who later would be named Delilah, was coming out wrong—hind feet first. This meant the umbilical cord could strangle her. Arsan was ready to try to help.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s only hope to save its critically endangered Sumatran Rhinos is to have the planned in vitro fertilization (IVF) programme to proceed as soon as possible, or start finding alternative methods.

JAKARTA — Hopes for a long-awaited collaboration between Indonesia and Malaysia to breed the near-extinct Sumatran rhino are fading fast, as the last of the species languish amid government inaction.

There is a clip from the documentary Torgamba: the Last Rhino that I watch over and over. It shows Torgamba, the male Sumatran rhino who spent much of his life in the U.K. before being sent back to Indonesia, returning to his native country. Tom Foose and Nico van Strien are waiting for him. Neither of them are comfortable-looking TV presenters, but these are scientists, not celebrities.

As we walk out into the zoo enclosure, Cossatot comes over to greet me. Cossatot is a capybara, the size of a very big dog; his species is the world’s largest rodent. He quickly determines from smelling my hands that I’ve neglected to bring him a treat. Looking a bit put out, he goes back to lounging in his one-man kingdom. But where Cossatot reigns was once the domain of an even larger, far more endangered animal. Little does Cossatot know, but his kingdom has made history. I’m visiting the old Sumatran rhino enclosures of Cincinnati Zoo with Terri Roth, head of the zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), and Paul Reinhart, leader of the team that cared daily for the rhinos.