Its tourism, culture and environment minister Masidi Manjun said science would play a key role in the effort, with initiatives like artificial breeding that could be considered.
He said the priority for now was to get the last remaining female rhino Iman back on the road to good health.
“At the moment, as far as the conservation of the species is concerned, it is an uphill task but we remain hopeful,” he said after opening the Tung Nan Heritage gift shop at Gaya Street here.
Masidi said he had yet to get an update from the Sabah Wildlife Department about the possibility of the Indonesian government sending a rhino sperm specimen that would be inseminated into eggs harvested from Iman.
The department’s director Augustine Tuuga said they were hoping that an agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia for cooperation in Sumatran Rhinoceros conservation would be finalised soon to pave the way for the collaboration.
The Indonesian media had reported that a semen specimen stored at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) at the Way Kambas National Park in southern Sumatra may be sent to Malaysia sometime this year, pending final approval.
Wiratno, head of conservation at Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, had said that they considered all aspects of the request by the Malaysian government and had submitted their views to the environment and forestry minister.
The collaboration would see the sperm of Indonesian male rhino Andalas, a captive-bred at the SRS, inseminated into Iman’s eggs.
Tuuga said Iman would not carry the fertilised eggs as she was still recovering from a burst uterine tumour.
A surrogate rhino from Indonesia would probably carry the fertilised eggs, he said, adding that the collaboration was the last hope for the survival of the rhinos in Malaysia.
Wildlife veterinarians had been caring for Iman around the clock since late last year when they diagnosed her as suffering from a bleeding uterus.
This came just a few months after they euthanised another female rhino, Puntung, that was suffering from cancer.
The only other rhino in captivity in Sabah is Tam, a male.
Finally, there’s hope for Sabah’s endangered Sumatran rhinos