It's a sad day for us Malaysians.
Puntung, one of the country's last three surviving rhinoceroses, will reportedly be put down.Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) Director Augustine Tuuga told Malay Mail Online that the 25-year-old rhino, which was captured in 2011, is suffering from squamous cell cancer, a form of skin cancer.
The disease has left Puntung in extreme pain, unable to breathe through her left nostril and unable to vocalise.
After consulting with medical specialists, Tuuga told the daily that administrating euthanasia is the best way to go for Puntung as the cancer has been spreading rapidly over the last couple of weeks.
In April, Puntung reportedly suffered from severe abscess in her mouth, which forced veterinarians to extract two molars and one premolar from its left upper jaw.
The abscess reportedly did not heal as Puntung's left cheek started swelling up. Further examination then revealed that the infected tooth root has a more serious origin.
With Puntung now gone, there are only two remaining Sumatran rhinos - a male and a female - left in Malaysia. They are being kept at the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary in Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Lahad Datu.
The smallest of all rhino species, the Sumatran rhino was declared critically endangered by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) as there are currently less than 100 remaining in the world.
The Sumatran rhino was officially declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia back in 2015.