Indonesia Is The Only Country That Has Successfully Preserved The Javan Rhinoceros, What's The Secret?

Illustration of Javan rhino conservation. (Indonesia Travel)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Forestry emphasized that Indonesia is the only country in the world that still manages to maintain the existence of the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus), although the number is getting smaller. So what's the secret?

The government has so far continued to seek protective measures to ensure these rare animals can survive and breed.

The Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE), Satyawan Pudyatmoko, revealed that currently the Javan rhinos in the wild only have around 87 100 tails and all live in Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten.

"In the past, Javan rhinos were also present in Vietnam and India, but now only Indonesia is able to maintain its population, although the number is small," he said in Jakarta, as quoted by ANTARA.

This statement is in response to a list of the 10 most endangered animals released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), of which five are in Indonesia.

Historically, Javan rhinos have spread across Java, Sumatra, to Southeast Asia, India, Bhutan, and China. However, now these animals have become extinct in all these areas, except in the Ujung Kulon. In the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the status is in the Critically Endangered category or is critically endangered.

Apart from the Javan rhinoceros, Indonesia is also still the last habitat for the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) who are critical. In the past, this species lived in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, as well as South Asian countries such as India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. Currently, the population is only left in several parts of Indonesia.

To protect the Sumatran rhino, the government has built the Rhino Sunaka Sumatra in Way Kambas National Park, East Lampung, as a conservation and captivity center.

"Population is small, but the important thing is that we have to work hard so that they stay afloat and not become extinct," said Satyawan.