Critically Endangered Javan Rhinos and Calves Captured on Video

WWF 28 Feb 11;

Dramatic new video footage of two critically endangered Javan rhinos and their calves was released today by WWF-Indonesia and Indonesia’s National Park Authority.

The footage, from a motion-activated video camera in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, is a huge boost to efforts to save this almost extinct species that is threatened by poaching, disease, and the possibility of a tsunami or volcanic eruption.


“The videos are great news for Javan rhinos and prove that they are breeding in Ujung Kulon,” said Dr. Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist at WWF-US. He warned, however, that the survival of the species is still far from certain. “There are no Javan rhinos in captivity—if we lose the population in the wild, we’ve lost them all,” Dinerstein said, pointing out that an eruption by nearby volcano Anak Krakatau could easily wipe out all life on the peninsula where the rhinos are concentrated.

Possibly the rarest mammal on Earth

The Javan rhino is possibly the rarest mammal on the planet with as few as 40 left. Once numerous throughout Southeast Asia, its population is now likely isolated to Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia. This small population size makes it extremely vulnerable to any threat, including poaching for its horn, which is traditionally believed to have medicinal properties.

The video trap, installed by WWF-Indonesia and Ujung Kulon National Park Authority, captured images of the rhinos and their calves between November and December of last year in the dense tropical rainforests of Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java. WWF is working with Ujung Kulon National Park authorities, International Rhino Foundation, Indonesia Rhino Foundation, Asian Rhino Project, IUCN/SSC Rhino Specialist Group and local communities to protect this species from poaching, monitor the remaining rhinos, and establish a new population by relocating several individuals.

Conservation efforts have increased dwindling populations in the past

“Fifty years of conservation experience has taught us that saving Javan rhinos is possible through population management and proper protection,” said Dr. Barney Long, head of Asian species conservation at WWF-US. “We’ve done it before—helping rhino populations rebound in Africa and South Asia—and we can do it again in Indonesia.”

Dinerstein added, “The recovery of the white rhino in South Africa is the most successful example of international wildlife conservation for a highly endangered species. With less than 50 left in a single reserve in 1900, there are currently around 20,000 alive in nine countries. Examples like this give us hope that in 10 or 20 years through translocation and proper protection we can begin to witness a Javan rhino rebound.”

You can support the Javan rhino

WWF has established an emergency fund to support the establishment of a Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area into which a handful of rhinos will be moved.

Visitors to www.javanrhinohope.org can learn more about the species and donate directly to a fund that will establish the conservation area and monitor the several individual rhinos that will populate it later this year. Establishing a new population is an essential buffer against a potential tsunami and an outbreak of disease and/or poaching.

The first video, recorded in November, shows a mother and male calf walking steadily towards the video trap, munching leaves. At one point the calf turns away from the camera and wags its tail to swat a fly. The second family made its video debut in December in a 30-second video that shows a larger female calf, approximately one year old, walking with her mother.

There is hope for the future of the species

“It’s such a joy to see these healthy calves calmly ambling through the dense tropical forest,” Long said. “It gives me hope for the future of the species and it’s moments like these that make all of the hard work of Indonesia’s dedicated field staff worthwhile.”

Dramatic new video footage of two critically endangered Javan rhinos and their calves was released today by WWF-Indonesia and Indonesia’s National Park Authority.


Javan Rhinos and Their Calves Caught on Film
The Jakarta Globe 28 Feb 11;

Two Javan rhinos and their calves have been caught on film by WWF Indonesia and Ujung Kulon National Park Authority.

The videos of the endangered species were recorded from November to December 2010.

A clip from the first video, which was recorded in November 2010, shows a mother and her male calf walking toward the camera. Several more videos of the family were obtained.

Another rhino family was documented in December 2010. The 30-second video shows a calf that is larger than the previous calf walking with its mother. The calf has been identified as a one-year-old female.

The videos prove that there are Javan rhinos breeding in Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten — which comes as good news after three Javan rhinos were found dead in the national park last year.

“The videos showing these two calves are important because they provide us with substantial information about the population dynamics of Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park,” said Agus Priambudi, the head of the Ujung Kulon National Park Authority, on Monday. He said the calves would help stablize the rhino population in Ujung Kulon at 50.

“These videos also provide us with some feedback about Javan rhino survey and monitoring systems, and we believe this information is important in ensuring the survival of the endangered species.”

This month Ujung Kulon National Park Authority took over management of the video camera traps in the park. Between 2001 and 2010, the video camera traps were jointly managed by the authority and WWF Indonesia.

“WFF is ready to support the management of video camera traps by the national park authority,” said Adhi Hariyadi, the project leader of the WWF Indonesia-Ujung Kulon Program. “We are more than willing to hand over survey methods and any information we have to ensure effective management in the future.”

After successfully identifying 14 rhino births within the last 10 years using camera traps, the study will now focus more on the habits, genetic diversity and diet of the Javan rhino, among other things.

“The documentation of a female calf is a breath of fresh air for us, and for Javan rhino conservation in general, as the majority of calves previously identified were male,” Adhi said.

Hope as rare rhino calves filmed in Indonesia
Yahoo News 28 Feb 11;

SERANG, Indonesia (AFP) – Hidden cameras have captured proof that Javan rhinos are breeding in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park, the last redoubt for the endangered mammals, conservationists said Monday.

Footage of two adults with two calves was taken in November and December last year by cameras hidden in the jungle of the rhino sanctuary on the southwestern tip of Java island, environmental group WWF said.

"This is fantastic news because before these camera trap images surfaced, only 12 other Javan rhino births were recorded in the past decade," WWF-Indonesia Ujung Kulon programme chief Adhi Hariyadi said.

"The population in Ujung Kulon represents the last real hope for the survival of a species that is on the brink of extinction."

The video clip show two females with their calves, one a female aged about a year and the other a younger male. They enter a small clearing in the jungle and appear to approach the hidden camera.

Environmentalists had believed there were only about 40 Javan rhinos left in the wild, but the camera data have led them to believe there could now be up to 50.

Of five rhino species, three including the Javan are critically endangered, mainly due to the growing demand for rhino horn.

The horns are ground into powder and used in traditional Chinese and other Asian medicines, although they have no scientifically proven medicinal value.

Ujung Kulon National Park authority chief Agus Priambudi said the new footage would help conservationists protect the last wild Javan rhino population.

A handful of Javan rhinos are also believed to exist in Vietnam but conservationists say those individuals, if they are still alive, are not a sustainable population.

"The camera enables us to know the position of the rhinos, their sex and whether there are pregnant rhinos among them. It's very important for the breeding process and conservation efforts," he told reporters.

"It will also help us to protect them from poaching... By knowing exactly where the rhinos usually roam, it's easier for our rangers to provide security for them."

Conservationists celebrated the discovery of the calves but warned that Ujung Kulon's rhino population remained extremely vulnerable.

Threats include poachers, habitat loss due to illegal clearing, disease from livestock that wander into the park from surrounding paddocks, tsunamis triggered by earthquakes and eruptions from the nearby Anak Krakatau volcano.

"We know that Ujung Kulon sits on a hot spot due to the active volcano, Anak Krakatau, and on plates with high seismic activity," WWF's Hariyadi said.

"The risk of extinction due to natural disaster is quite high."

With these threats in mind, officials are preparing to move up to five female and three male rhinos to another forest sanctuary on Java.

"We're really careful about executing the project and we're involving many experts," Hariyadi said.