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DNA test proves bone-like material not rhinoceros horn
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Under investigation – A West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) official shows a rhino-horn-like material to journalists in Pontianak on Thursday. A DNA test performed by the Eijkman Institute in Jakarta proves that the material contains no rhino DNA. (thejakartapost.com/Severianus Endi)
T
he West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) said a DNA test had proven a bone-like material confiscated by Supadio Airport authorities during a recent passenger security check was not a rhinoceros horn.
The agency said an extraction process performed by the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology in Jakarta on a 125 cubic centimeter sample could not find any rhinoceros DNA in it. The test also failed to determine the type or species of the sample as it was contaminated with the DNA of other species, the agency added.
BKSDA West Kalimantan head Sustyo Iriono said the DNA test result would not stop his agency from making other efforts. Together with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia, Sustyo said, the BKSDA would send the sample to other institutions to get more opinions.
“Kalimantan Island has many rare animal species that have not yet been discovered. Rhinoceroses have been detected physically in East Kalimantan. It is possible that this animal has its habitat in West Kalimantan. We have moved our informants in remote villages to detect the rhinoceros habitat while we monitor other endemic animals,” Sustyo told journalists in Pontianak on Thursday.
Earlier, the BKSDA West Kalimantan and WWF Indonesia sent the bone-like sample to the Eijkman Institute on March 16. The sample, which was quite similar to a rhinoceros horn, was confiscated from a flight passenger who left luggage at Supadio Airport in Pontianak.
WWF Indonesia manager program for West Kalimantan, Albert Tjiu, said the rhino-horn-like material smelled good. It also had bone or fossil characteristics.
“We suspected that this material had been contaminated with sandalwood oil needed for a ritual. It is possible that the oil absorption has damaged its tissues so that it is difficult for us to identify what species it is,” said Albert.
The presence of rhinoceros in Kalimantan has been previously doubted by several parties because this species is known to have its natural habitat only on Java and Sumatra.
In 2013, WWF Indonesia found footprints of rhinoceros in West Kutai forests in East Kalimantan. The finding was confirmed in March when conservation officials managed to catch a 10-year-old female rhinoceros, which needed to be treated as its leg had become infected from wounds inflicted by traps of wildlife hunters. Unfortunately, the rhino named Najaq did not survive.
“The presence of endemic Kalimantan animals other than orangutan and hornbills needs to be introduced to the public. This will hopefully move them to play greater roles to collect information and report findings of species that have never been known before,” said Albert. (ebf)
