Bora’s birth

The Borneo Rhino Alliance (Bora) is a local NGO based in Sabah. Active since the year 2000, and formerly known as SOS Rhino and subsequently SOS Rhino Borneo, Bora provides protection and monitoring of a critical population of Sumatran rhinos in Tabin Wildlife Reserve in eastern Sabah.

The critically endangered Sumatran rhino is now one of the world’s rarest mammals. Its populations have dwindled to fewer than 200 animals. Of the sub-species found on Borneo (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), less than 40 are thought to survive, clinging to pockets of forest in eastern and central Sabah. The two main populations, numbering perhaps 13-15 rhinos each, are in the Danum Valley Conservation Area and Tabin Wildlife Reserve, with a few other isolated individuals scattered elsewhere.