In the Malaysian state of Sabah there are no Sumatran rhinos left in the wild, the Environment Minister says. The eastern Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), also known as the Bornean rhino, is the world’s smallest rhino. It’s a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and is a shy and solitary creature that inhabits Bornean forests.
The decline of this species is mainly linked to two factors: poaching for rhino horns. As beautiful as rhino horn is the horn actually doesn’t have any medical properties at all, contrary to many people’s beliefs. Compounding this is the habitat loss due to deforestation, mainly carried out to make place for oil palm plantations and human settlements.
The horn of commercially farmed cattle and buffalo shares most of the working properties of rhino horn. Chemically and pharmacologically cattle and buffalo horn is essentially the same as rhino horn. If the 'rhino horn myth' had veracity people would already be quaffing it for whatever powers they are seeking from rhino horn.
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