Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) director Augustine Tuuga said the carcass is still at the Borneo Rhinoceros Sanctuary in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu.
“We will try to preserve the carcass and I plan to hand it over to the Sabah Museum,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Iman was captured in 2014 in the Danum Valley, Lahad Datu, and is estimated to be 25 years old.
The female rhinoceros’ death at 5.30pm yesterday was announced by the Sabah Wildlife Department.
Iman’s death marked the extinction of the species (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) in Malaysia.
According to Tuuga, she died due to the growing pressure of a tumor on the bladder.
He said Iman’s carcass would be preserved like that of Tam’s, the sole surviving male Sumatran rhino which died last May due to old age and multiple organ failure, stemming from kidney and liver damage.
Tuuga said the egg cells which were harvested from Iman were still preserved and the department hoped to collaborate with the Indonesian government to provide new rhinoceros sperm to fertilise the eggs through the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) method.
Last October, the preserved Sumatran male rhinoceros’ carcass was put on display at the Sabah Museum in conjunction with the “Head of State and Tam, The Last Male Rhino” exhibition held to celebrate the 66th official birthday of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sabah Juhar Mahiruddin.
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal said the state government had identified areas to be gazetted for wildlife next year, just like it is being done in Africa, to ensure the survival of wild animals, especially those facing extinction, like the pygmy elephants of Sabah.
In SANDAKAN, Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) chairman Dr Abdul Hamid Ahmad said it would continue to operate at the sanctuary in efforts to revive the species in Sabah, apart from continuing the fight to conserve other endangered ones.
He paid tribute to all the organisations and people who worked tirelessly to save Iman and the dedication of Bora’s field veterinarian, Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, for fighting till the very end to ensure Iman would live.