![]() This rescue and release were only possible due to the strong collaboration between the national park and other stakeholders including FFI, other institutions and local communities. "I hope the samples taken and other data collected will be useful to Indonesian scientists in building knowledge of this little-known animal. "I am proud of my staff for responding to this report so professionally and returning the rabbit to the park," said Tamen Sitorus. "The successful rescue of the Sumatran striped rabbit was a true team effort and is testament to the broad network of support that operates around the park-online and offline once the farmer who caught this rabbit understood its rarity, he was happy to see it returned to the national park," said Martyr. ![]() It had a slight injury to its flank-possibly sustained during the flash flood-but has now been safely released back into the forest by the park rangers, at a site chosen on the basis of existing camera trap data. ![]() It is understood that the rabbit was captured opportunistically by a local farmer who encountered it at the edge of the national park next to a river that had just flooded violently. The only specimens from Sumatra date back to the Dutch colonial period-and are in the Netherlands, not Indonesia." She is in no doubt about the enormous scientific significance of this unexpected opportunity to eyeball such an elusive species: "Very little is known about this animal, other than that it shows a marked preference for mossy hill and submontane forest. People so often forget this park also protects rare species like the Sumatran striped rabbit and its habitat we have the highest peat swamp forests in Asia, for instance-and amazing moss forests."įFI's Deborah Martyr, who advises the park's Tiger Protection & Conservation Units, is one of the few people fortunate enough to have experienced a close encounter with a Sumatran striped rabbit in the wild. Finding one flaunted on Facebook is the Indonesian equivalent of stumbling upon a thylacine in a Tasmanian pet shop, and the conservation community was quick to respond.Īfter receiving a tip-off about the Facebook post, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the Kerinci Seblat National Park authorities quickly tracked down the would-be seller and rescued the priceless rabbit, which was held in safe custody until it was ready to be released.ĭirector of the national park, Tamen Sitorus, said: "While Kerinci Seblat is world famous for its biodiversity, it is the larger charismatic animals like tigers, elephants and helmeted hornbills that usually make the headlines. Known only from a dozen Dutch museum specimens collected in the early 20th century, plus an occasional sighting in the wild and a handful of camera trap images, the species is widely considered to be the rarest rabbit in the world. Sumatran striped rabbits are seldom spotted, in either sense of the word.
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