Northern Sumatran Rhinoceros

How the Sumatran rhinoceros came to London

In February 1868, some villagers captured a female Sumatran rhinoceros on the Sangu River near the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a mountainous region in southeastern Bangladesh—such a species had never before been reported so far west of Chittagong. The rhinoceros came into the possession of a certain F. H. Hood, who sold it a few years later to the leading London animal dealer Carl Jamrach.¹ He transported the animal to Calcutta so that it could be examined there by the Scottish zoologist and curator of the Indian Museum, John Anderson:

“The female which is the subject of my examination is about 4 feet 6 inches [137 cm] high at the shoulders and about 8 feet [244 cm] from the muzzle to the root of the tail; it weighs nearly 2000 pounds [907 kg]. (…) A particularly striking feature of this individual, which I have neither seen in three adult specimens of this species from Burma that I examined, nor seen mentioned in any description of the species, is the long drooping hair on the edges of the ears. In adult males and females, the margins of the ears are set with strong (…) black hairs (…) almost one inch [2,5 cm] or slightly longer. But in this individual these hairs are almost five inches [12,7 cm] long (…).”

Notes on Rhinoceros sumatrensis, Cuvier. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1872, pp. 129-132, J. Anderson

Anderson then brought the animal to London, where it arrived on February 6, 1872. The Zoological Society of London acquired the rhinoceros from Jamrach for London Zoo just under a week later for 1,250 pounds. It was the first Sumatran rhinoceros in a British zoo and the second in human care; the first had been at Hamburg Zoo since January 18, 1872. The Sumatran rhinoceros at London Zoo, the “Chittagong rhinoceros”, was given the name Begum.

On August 2, 1872, the Zoological Society of London bought a second Sumatran rhinoceros from Jamrach for 600 pounds; it had been captured in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan. The animal, an old female, died less than two months later on September 21, and its remains were taken to the Natural History Museum in London.

Northern Sumatran rhinoceros – fact sheet

alternative names	Northern hairy rhinoceros, Hairy-eared Sumatran rhinoceros, Ear-fringed rhinoceros, Chittagong rhinoceros, Kyan, Kyan-shaw, Badak
scientific names	Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis, Rhinoceros lasiotis, Ceratorhinus lasiotis
original range	Indochina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Inner Mongolia (China)
time of extinction	unclear, possibly after 1967
causes of extinction	poaching, habitat loss

One Sumatran rhinoceros became two

Philip Lutley Sclater, the secretary of the Zoological Society, initially identified the “Chittagong rhinoceros” as a Sumatran rhinoceros, Rhinoceros sumatrensis², which is not surprising, since at that time it was the only species in this group that had been described. But shortly after the arrival of the old rhinoceros from Malaysia at London Zoo, Sclater compared the two animals and decided that the Malaysian specimen was a typical Sumatran rhinoceros, R. sumatrensis, while the Chittagong specimen was different and should belong to a new species.

Sclater recognized two different species of rhinoceroses with two horns: R. sumatrensis from Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, and the new species R. lasiotis, with “long hairs fringing the ears”, from Chittagong, represented by Begum at London Zoo.³ Other rhinoceroses native to Asia have only one horn, such as the Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus) or the Indian rhinoceros (R. unicornis). In addition to the ear tufts, Sclater identified further differences between the rhinoceroses. The Chittagong specimen was said to be much larger, and differences in body color were also present.

In The great and small game of India, Burma, & Tibet from 1900, the English naturalist Richard Lydekker described the northern Sumatran rhinoceros as follows:

“Compared with the typical Sumatran rhinoceros (…) a specimen from Chittagong (…) was distinguished by its superior dimensions, its lighter and brown hair, the shorter and more densely haired tail, and the strongly developed hairs on the margins of the ears (…). The skull was also proportionally larger, but despite claims to the contrary this seems to be a rather unimportant feature.”

The great and small game of India, Burma, & Tibet, R. Lydekker, 1900

Sclater probably later discussed his discovery of a new species with the notorious English zoologist Frank Buckland, who at the time was director of London Zoo in Regent’s Park. Buckland, who published his own magazine called Land and Water, wrote in the issue of August 10, 1872, that the Chittagong rhinoceros should be regarded as a new species and “was named by Dr. Sclater Rhinoceros lasiotis, or the hairy-eared rhinoceros”.⁴ From then on, the northern Sumatran rhinoceros was known as Rhinoceros lasiotis Buckland, 1872, and Buckland is considered the first describer of the species.

There were now two species of Sumatran rhinoceroses , and most authors at the time did not question this. Some did doubt this classification, but for lack of study material they could not prove that it was one and the same species, because the only known specimen of the northern Sumatran rhinoceros was still living at London Zoo. That changed in August 1900: The northern Sumatran rhinoceros from Chittagong died in the zoological garden after almost 33 years in human care. Its remains were also brought to the Natural History Museum, where the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas, curator of the mammal collection, examined them.

Thomas found that the external features cited by Sclater that distinguished the Chittagong rhinoceros from the typical Sumatran rhinoceros had disappeared: the ear tufts were not two inches long, and in color the northern Sumatran rhinoceros resembled the typical Sumatran rhinoceros. Measurements of the skull, however, showed that it was very large. Thomas therefore regarded “R. lasiotis as a valid northern subspecies of R. sumatrensis, chiefly characterized by its larger size”⁵. The absence of the long ear tufts was not due to exaggeration on Sclater’s part, but to a natural age-related change. After all, Begum lived for more than 30 years at London Zoo, and today we know that Sumatran rhinoceroses can live up to 35 years.

On the restructuring of the rhinoceros family

After the turn of the century, little happened at first with regard to the taxonomy of Sumatran rhinoceroses. It was not until the 1960s that the British-Australian biologist Colin P. Groves developed renewed interest in the rhinoceros family (Rhinocerotidae). He began studying all available museum specimens from Europe and the United States and reassessing older data and publications in light of his findings. He measured all the skulls and concluded that four subspecies of the Sumatran rhinoceros exist. Groves and the biologist Fred Kurt published a new taxonomy of the rhinoceroses in 1972 in the journal Mammalian Species under the title Dicerorhinus sumatrensis:

• Western Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis from Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and southeastern Thailand
• Northern Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis from northeastern India, Bangladesh and northern Myanmar (Burma) – extinct
• Eastern Sumatran rhinoceros or Bornean rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni from Borneo
• Dicerorhinus sumatrensis eugenei from the Padang Cave on Sumatra – extinct

How many Sumatran rhinoceroses are left?

With the publication by Groves and Kurt, the Sumatran rhinoceros from London Zoo officially became one of four subspecies of the Sumatran rhinoceros. Dicerorhinus sumatrensis eugenei had particularly large teeth and already became extinct in the early Holocene. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN, only 75 to 85 Western Sumatran rhinoceroses remain (as of 2020); a calf was born in November 2023 in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park in the east of the island of Sumatra. The smaller Eastern Sumatran rhinoceros, once distributed throughout Borneo, was already considered functionally extinct with only one female specimen until more animals appeared in 2016. The number of Sumatran rhinoceroses on Borneo is estimated at 15 individuals, according to news published in March 2016 in the online magazine Mongabay.

The situation is not much better for the other Asian rhinoceroses with only one horn: according to the IUCN, only 68 specimens of the nominate form of the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus) remain; the Bengal Javan rhinoceros subspecies (R. s. inermis) as well as the Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros subspecies are now probably extinct. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were fewer than 200 Indian rhinoceroses left, so they were already almost extinct. The population was able to recover, however, and as of August 2018 stood at more than 3,500 individuals, according to the IUCN. In the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, however, the species is still listed as vulnerable.

When the northern Sumatran rhinoceros disappeared

The northern Sumatran rhinoceros was the formerly most widespread subspecies of the Sumatran rhinoceros and also the only subspecies endemic to mainland Asia. Its habitat extended from Indochina through eastern India, the eastern Himalayan regions of Bhutan and Bangladesh, to Inner Mongolia in northern China. On the Indian subcontinent, the Sumatran rhinoceros occurred in the 19th century in parts of the Indian states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram, in the northern part of the geographic region of Bengal, in Bhutan, and in Cumilla and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

The last evidence from the Indian subcontinent dates from 1967, when a Sumatran rhinoceros was killed near the city of Cox’s Bazar in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh. Locals also sighted a rhinoceros in the Sonai Reserved Forest in Cachar district in southern Assam, which was probably a Sumatran rhinoceros, since until 1890 this species was occasionally found in the forests of the Hailakandi and Cachar districts in the state of Assam.

Northern Sumatran rhinocero—extinct or not?

In The status of the Sumatran Rhinoceros in north-eastern India (1997), the Indian zoologist Anwaruddin Choudhury provides possible evidence that the northern Sumatran rhinoceros still exists. Beginning in January 1996, Anwaruddin traveled through several Indian states and adjacent areas in Myanmar to assess the possibility of Sumatran rhinoceroses occurring there. In fact, in the Indian state of Nagaland he found evidence for the existence of the northern Sumatran rhinoceros:

“In June 1996 I visited Nagaland (…), to determine whether rhinoceroses are present and to search for other wildlife species. I used an illustration of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis when asking local people about sightings, but they explained to me that the animal that occasionally occurs in their area is different, it is hairy and has two small horns.”

The status of the Sumatran Rhinoceros in north-eastern India, Oryx Volume 31, Issue 2, April 1997, pp. 151-152, A. Choudhury

For the state of Manipur, also in eastern India, Choudhury also notes that there are occasional reports of Sumatran rhinoceroses from the Anko area of Ukhrul district. In the 1970s, a rhinoceros is said to have been shot northeast of Ukhrul by the Tangkhul Naga tribe, which is based in the Ukhrul area. And reports from villagers from the Konkan region in India indicate that they encountered individual rhinoceroses into the early 1990s.

The northern Sumatran rhinoceros was declared extinct in India, Bangladesh, China and other countries in the 1920s; in northeastern India, again in 1997. Nevertheless, besides Choudhury, several other authors claim that the subspecies still occurs in some areas, for example in Tamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary in northern Myanmar or in the Saramati region near the border between India and Myanmar.The alleged sightings took place between 1971 and 1993. Nevertheless, the northern Sumatran rhinoceros was declared extinct in Myanmar in the 1980s.

Various unconfirmed reports suggest that a small population of northern Sumatran rhinoceroses may have survived in Myanmar. Because of the political situation in the country, however, it has so far not been possible to confirm or refute this. Another thesis is that northern Sumatran rhinoceroses still live in Taman Negara National Park on the Malay Peninsula, although there is also no evidence for this so far. In an interview with DownToEarth in November 2019, Choudhury expressed confidence about the survival of the northern Sumatran rhinoceros subspecies: “Given the large forest areas in Myanmar and the fact that very few experts have been present there so far, there could be a chance”.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN states that the population status of the northern subspecies is unknown, but concedes that it is possible that a small number of individuals has survived in Myanmar.

Why did the northern Sumatran rhinoceros become extinct?

Groves and Kurt summarized the threats faced by the northern Sumatran rhinoceros (and all other Asian rhinoceros species) in 1872 as follows:

“Man is the only known hunter, although the young may undoubtedly fall victim to large predators. They are attacked by ticks and horseflies of the genus Tabanus.”

Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Mammalian Species No. 21, The American Society of Mammlogists, 1872, C.P. Groves & F. Kurt

The greatest threats to existing Sumatran rhinoceroses, and also to the probably extinct northern Sumatran rhinoceros, are considered to be illegal poaching and the destruction of its habitat through the increase in human settlements as a result of economic expansion.

Even today, threatened wild animals such as rhinoceroses are still illegally hunted, kept in cages and killed in large parts of Asia so that their parts can be sold on the black market as traditional remedies with supposedly miraculous medicinal effects. Demand for such remedies comes mainly from China and Vietnam. The US author Robert Silverberg discusses the subject in more detail in The Auk, the Dodo and the Oryx (1967):

“Man as hunter had little interest in eating rhinoceroses, but man as healer found supposed medicinal uses for them. Chinese doctors began using powdered rhinoceros horns as ingredients in medicines believed to cure epilepsy, stomach ailments and dozens of other diseases. A cup made from a rhinoceros horn was supposedly able to render any poison harmless. As these superstitions took root, demand for rhinoceros horn rose enormously. Chinese pharmacists were willing to pay high prices for the horns as long as their patients paid even higher prices for the medicines they produced. Across Asia, rhinoceroses were hunted mercilessly.”

The Auk, the Dodo and the Oryx, 1967, R. Silverberg

According to historical sources, the trade in rhinoceros horns goes back more than 2,000 years. This has undoubtedly led to Sumatran rhinoceroses being reduced to a tiny percentage of their former population size and former range, if not to their extinction.

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1. Edwards, J., London Zoo from Old Photographs: 1852-1014, 1996. ↩︎
2. Sclater, P.L., Announcement of the addition to the Society’s collection of a female Sumatran rhinoceros, in: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1872), S. 185. ↩︎
3. Sclater, P.L., On a new rhinoceros, with remarks on the recent species of this genus and their distribution, in: Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 42/Nr. 3 (1873), S. 140. ↩︎
4. Buckland, F., A new rhinoceros at the Zoological Gardens, in: Land and Water, August 10 (1872), S. 89. ↩︎
5. Thomas, O., Notes on the type specimen of Rhinoceros lasiotis Sclater; with remarks on the generic position of the living species of rhinoceros, in: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 2 (1901), S. 154-158. ↩︎