According to a report by The New Straits Times, quoting Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew, the prognosis of the cancer-stricken Iman is now poor and deteriorating.

"This week, Iman's body weight is 476 kilogrammes, 44 kg less than her average weight over the past few years. She is not eating her normal amount and is being given supplements.

"The situation reminds us of the case of Puntung, who was euthanised on 4 June 2017, because her squamous cell carcinoma was incurable, and she was suffering pain," she was quoted as saying.

Already has a tumour

The 25-year-old female rhino already had a tumour in her body when she was captured in March 2014, and it has now reportedly spread to her urinary bladder.

"The vets said there is no way to halt the growth of these tumours, and surgery to remove them always was and still is too dangerous there would be inevitable major blood loss that would result in her quick demise," she said.

Before this, in a bid to continue the species, an egg cell was retrieved from Iman to be fertilised by the sperms belonging to Sabah's last male rhino Tam, who died in May this year.

Sadly, the attempt failed as the sperms are of poor quality.

Given Iman’s current situation, Liew told the news portal that the state government would expedite the legality process with Indonesian counterparts for the in-vitro fertilisation, where another egg would be harvested from Iman to be fertilised with the sperm from an Indonesian rhino.