Humans Still the Biggest Threat to Indonesia’s Endangered Rhinoceroses

Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 4 Jun 12;

There are many challenges in protecting the one-horned Javan rhinoceros, but the biggest barrier comes from humans hunting the rare species into extinction. This was the position put forward by Novianto Bambang, director of conservation and biodiversity at the Forestry Ministry when contacted by BeritaSatu on Saturday.

Novianto added that the ministry planned to declare 2012 the International Year of the Rhino to draw attention to the creature’s plight. The announcement is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

“For rhinos, the main threat is humans, besides natural disturbances and disease,” Novianto said. “Humans are very strange, in my opinion, because they are interested in the rhino for its horn. There are many who believe rhino horn has properties that can increase virility. The problem is, to get the horn, like it or not, they have to kill the rhino.”

He added that there were only 35 Javan rhinos remaining at the Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java.

“The second problem is, of course, human encroachment into the rhinos’ already limited habitat. It is becoming increasingly harder for rhinos to find food in their own habitats,” he said. “We don’t know when it’s going to become big problem, but we must be vigilant and start looking now for a way out.”

One of only 11 nations where rhinos are found, including Malaysia, India and South Africa, Indonesia is lucky to have has two kinds of rhinos: The one-horned Javan rhino and the two-horned Sumatran rhino, of which only 200 remain in the wild.

“Indonesia has two species of rhino that are still in some of the biggest numbers in the world. In Vietnam, the rhino is already extinct. We mustn’t let that happen here,” Novianto said. “We are now working on several activities to increase the population of both kinds of rhinos. From Way Kambas [South Sumatra], we have already received exciting news that there is a pregnant rhino nearly ready to give birth. Meanwhile, for the Javan rhino, we have 120 cameras that can tell us how many rhinos are out there.”

Data shows that there are 13 female and 22 male Javan rhinos still in the wild in West Java. Although the recorded number of Javan rhinos is still less than ideal, the fact that they are breeding is an good sign, said Mohammad Haryono from the region’s national park.

“It is certainly less than ideal that there are so few females, but the fact that they are breeding shows that they can still increase their numbers naturally,” he said.

With the population numbers as they are, Novianto acknowledges that the conditions are still far from ideal, but he said that the declaration of the international rhino day should help the species as it will increase awareness of the problem among the greater public.