After almost fifty years as a nature conservation practitioner in Malaysia, I see little need for further studies or technical data. Other than the baleful influence of governmental bureaucracy, “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer”. Habitat loss, deforestation, fragmentation, poaching, lack of public awareness, lack of funds and climate change are all “givens” that we have to live with. The answer to be faced is that all endangered species are on an inevitable trajectory to extinction, so targeted, species-specific management interventions will be needed to recover and sustain demographically viable populations. For many reasons interventions do not happen, not least because the late twentieth century model of powerful governments, IUCN and mainstream NGOs does not allow small groups of passionate, experienced and competent people to self-organise and decide what to do based on objective analysis. But even small groups are subject to a quintet of human cognitive biases that can be summarised as shifting baseline, risk aversion and us-and-them, and subservience to fashions and to opinions. The Hairy rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) will represent the first large mammal genus extinction in the 21st century for those reasons. Poaching and habitat loss ceased to be relevant for this species more than a century ago.

The challenges faced and lessons after five years garnered by a small NGO in Malaysia (Borneo Rhino Alliance, BORA; www.bringingbackourrareanimals.org) are presented. Despite a perception that endangered large animals are being taken care of by governments and mainstream NGOs, that is not so, because prevailing interventions are based largely on cognitive biases. BORA’s approach to recovery of four endangered species and sub-species (Bornean orangutan, Bornean elephant, Bornean banteng and Malayan seladang) is by boosting the availability and productivity of key food plants and essential minerals in circumscribed sub-optimal areas, thereby bringing local animal population density and demography back to pre-Anthropocene, optimum habitat levels.

JOHN PAYNE

U.K-born tropical biologist John Payne has resided in Malaysia and Indonesia since 1975, including 25,000 hours living within tropical rain forest. He headed the nature conservation NGO WWF in Sabah from 1982 to 1998. Now, as head of a small, specialist NGO, Borneo Rhino Alliance (www.bringingbackourrareanimals.org), his aim is to highlight that knowledge of and actions to enhance demography, spatial distribution and reproductive performance are the vital parameters required to prevent extinctions. His current work involves the application of simple methods to increase carrying capacity of forest-plantation landscapes for endangered large mammals.