The Sumatran striped rabbit is the rarest of its kind. It was recently rescued in Indonesia thanks to a Facebook post that was noticed by random people. The rabbit, under unknown circumstances, was caught by a local farmer and was put up for sale.
The farmer wrote a corresponding post on Facebook, thanks to which the environmentalists came to the animal. It is known that a man saw the animal on the outskirts of the national park near the river. It had a small injury on the side, and the farmer sort of decided to take him in. And then sell. The conservation organization Fauna and Flora discovered the post and quickly located the farmer. The rabbit was seized from him and they decided to return it to its natural habitat, from where it obviously came out. The rabbit was released into the Kerinci Seblat National Park, the largest on the island of Sumatra.
Animal rights activists are happy that they helped release such a rare representative of the fauna. Fauna and Flora scientist Deborah Martyr has no doubts about the enormous scientific significance of this unexpected find. It indicates that these rabbits may still be spreading in Sumatra. However, it is not yet known how many of them there might be. Striped Sumatran rabbit: what is so special about them? Firstly, their mystery and unwillingness to contact people. About its appearance is known only thanks to about 10 museum specimens stored in the Netherlands. Secondly, only relatively recently – in 1997 – the Sumatran rabbit was photographed for the first time in history.
This is a photo taken at night, showing orange flashes in the eyes of the animal and its characteristic stripes on the body. This rabbit is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species. The Sumatran rabbit is listed as endangered. The most significant threat to the survival of the Sumatran striped rabbit is habitat loss due to deforestation. Kerinci Seblat National Park is one of the last strongholds of this forest dependent species.