Sumatran rhinos are the smallest of the living rhinoceroses and the only Asian rhino with two horns. They are covered with long hair and are more closely related to the extinct woolly rhinos than any of the other rhino species alive today.

Rhino experts from around the world and Indonesian government officials agree that the only way to bring the Sumatran rhino back from the brink is to relocate them to managed breeding facilities designed specifically for their care and propagation.

SEARCH AND RESCUE Find as many rhinos as possible living in small, isolated populations across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo and relocate them to managed conservation breeding facilities.

The goal of the Sumatran rhino program is to keep the rhinos safe in the wild while establishing a successful international zoo breeding program. In 1984, a zoo breeding program was formally established for this species, but efforts to propagate these rhinos in zoos initially failed.

Why rhinos matter. Rhinos have been around for millions of years and play a crucial role in their ecosystem. They're important grazers, consuming large amounts of vegetation, which helps shape the African landscape. This benefits other animals and keeps a healthy balance within the ecosystem.

Rhinos are vital for Africa's savannahs. These megaherbivores graze for hours on grassland, which maintains the structure of the vegetation, encourages new growth and in turn provides additional food and grazing areas for other herbivores such as elephants, zebra, antelope and buffalo.

African Parks is creating safe havens for black rhinos by securing national parks and protected areas where they live, and reintroducing them to safe areas where they have gone locally extinct. Learn more about our work and what you can do to help.

The World Sustainability Organization's Friend of the Earth project provides financial support for The Rhino Orphanage (TRO) a Non-profit organization in South Africa and the first-ever specialized, non-commercial center dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, raising, and release of orphaned rhinos back into the wild ...

Rhinos are vital for Africa's savannahs. These megaherbivores graze for hours on grassland, which maintains the structure of the vegetation, encourages new growth and in turn provides additional food and grazing areas for other herbivores such as elephants, zebra, antelope and buffalo.

African Parks is creating safe havens for black rhinos by securing national parks and protected areas where they live, and reintroducing them to safe areas where they have gone locally extinct. Learn more about our work and what you can do to help.

Many plant species in this region evolved alongside large animals like rhinos and elephants, developing large, fleshy fruits to entice megafauna to eat and disperse them. A new study shows that Sumatran rhinos play this key role for an estimated 79 plant species.

It is now critically endangered, with only five substantial populations in the wild: four in Sumatra and one in Borneo, with an estimated total population of fewer than 80 mature individuals.