A new count from Jujung Kulon National Park indicates the the Javan rhino population is increasing. Rangers counted a total of 58 rhinos appearing in camera traps, up from 51 in 2012. This is important news because the species is restricted to the Park in western Java, although it once roamed throughout most of Southeast Asia. The Javan rhino
(Rhinocerous sondaicus) is considered the most imperiled mammal on the planet. The ecosystem in which it now hangs on to survival cannot support many more rhinos, and a major volcanic eruption could wipe the entire population. Discussions about moving part of the population to give it more living space have been taken, but nothing has been done yet. Park officials identified 50 young and adult rhinos, twenty females and 30 males, and eight calves, three female and five male. They plan to set up a rhino health unit to look after the calves. During 2012-2013 two rhinos were found dead in the Park. A 3% growth rate is targeted by the Indonesian government for the rhinos.
Another rare rhino was spotted in the photos, the Sumatran rhino
(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), the last of the two-horned species in Asia. About 100 survive in forest remnants across Indonesia and Sabah, Malaysia. Its numbers have been halved by poaching in the last twenty years. The Sumatran rhino is being bred in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra
[photo credit: Antaranews.com]. Malaysia has asked for rhinos from Way Kambas since its population maybe as few as five. A sad end for a mammal that has survived on mother Earth for twenty million years.
