Rare young Java rhinos caught on video in Indonesia
Two Java rhino calves were filmed in an Indonesian jungle in March, the Forestry and Environment Ministry said on Saturday, raising hopes for the endangered species’ long-term survival.
A female calf, probably 3 to 5 months old, and a male calf, estimated to be around 1 year old, were spotted separately on camera traps in Ujung Kulon National Park at the western tip of the island of Java, according to the ministry.
A female Java rhino is sighted in Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java in Indonesia in March 2021. (Photo courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Forests and Environment) (Kyodo)
“These are the first discoveries of newborn Java rhino calves in 2021,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said that with the confirmation of the two calves, Indonesia has 73 Java rhinos – 40 males and 33 females.
The critically endangered one-horned Java rhinos were only found in two places in the world: the national park and Vietnam. But the Vietnamese population was considered extinct in 2010 due to poaching, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Indonesia also has two-horned Sumatran rhinos, also known as the hairy rhinos.
The wild Sumatran rhino population is estimated at less than 200, all of which live in isolated pockets on the island of Sumatra and Sabah, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, while there are less than a dozen. in captivity.
The decline in the number of Sumatran and Java rhinos is mainly attributed to poaching for their horns. Giant mammals are also affected by habitat loss as forests have been cleared to make way for plantations.