Lazarus species12/25/2023 ![]() The trade-offs facing organizations with the exciting prospect of a Lazarus species is one between the costs and benefits of publicity. We suggest that a secrecy-based strategy for Kalimantan's rhinos would have had lower risks and potentially higher long-term returns for conservation. The "publicize-and-protect" strategy now envisaged following the widely announced rediscovery of rhinos in Kalimantan requires immediate major conservation intervention, which, given the track record of conservation in Indonesia, is unlikely to be effective. Interviews with hunters suggests that without information on the presence of rhinos, the perceived financial benefits of hunting down widely dispersed rhinos no longer justified the actual costs. We argue that in the decades the species was thought to be extirpated, the population in Kalimantan could persist precisely because of the lack of attention. We question the decision to publicise this rediscovery. The threat of poaching for its horn, however, remains as strong as ever. The species was thought to have been extinct there for over a quarter of a century. ![]() In 2013, evidence that the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis still existed in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, made global headlines. However, it can also back-fire when publicity creates threats that were previously absent. This publicity could potentially generate financial and political support to prevent the species from becoming ‘extinct' once again. ![]() Lazarus species, species that were thought to be extinct until found again, are of considerable public interest and attract major media coverage as they offer a glimmer of hope in a generally glum conservation world. ![]()
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