In the uphill battle to save the critically endangered Sumatran rhino, good news is hard to come by. Last year, the species was declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia and conservationists warned that the creatures -- which number less than 100 -- may disappear entirely from the planet before too long.

With the ongoing poaching crisis, escalating population decline and destruction of suitable habitat, extinction of the Sumatran rhino in the near future is becoming increasingly likely , Simon Stuart of International Union for the Conservation of Nature told The Guardian in September.

But this week, a rare ray of hope has illuminated the rhinos struggle for survival, bringing some much-needed optimism to the crisis.

For the first time in 40 years, conservationists have made physical contact with a Sumatran rhino in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo:

According to the WWF, which captured the animal on March 12 for protective purposes, it had been assumed that the Sumatran rhino had gone extinct in Kalimantan until researchers found evidence to the contrary in 2013.

Footprints of the animal and photos captured by camera traps proved the rhino's existence, but none had been seen face-to-face in Kalimantan in four decades.

This is an exciting discovery and a major conservation success, Pak Efransjah, CEO of WWF-Indonesia, said in a statement. We now have proof that a species once thought extinct in Kalimantan still roams the forests, and we will now strengthen our efforts to protect this extraordinary species.

WWF told The Guardian that the female rhino, believed to be around 4 or 5 years old, will soon be re-homed in a sanctuary about 100 miles from where she was captured. The location of the sanctuary has been kept really, really vague to deter poachers, said Stuart.