HANDOUT / AFP
The animal is believed to be between 3 and 5 months old, but its gender could not be identified in images captured by one of the hidden cameras in Ujung Kulon National Park.
A rare baby Javan rhino has been spotted in an Indonesian national park, raising hopes for the conservation of one of the world’s most endangered mammals.
The spotted animal is a young rhinoceros estimated to be three to five months old, but the gender remains unknown. Last month, he was spotted on footage from one of 126 hidden cameras in Ujung Kulon National Park on the island of Java, west of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
“Thank God, this is good news that proves that Javan rhinos, which only exist in Ujung Kulon, can reproduce properly,” said Satyawan Pudyatmoko, a senior official at Indonesia’s environment ministry, in a press release published on Saturday.
82 individuals
The baby rhino was walking with its mother in the 120,000-hectare Rainforest and Watercourses National Park in the southwestern tip of Java, the last natural habitat of this endemic rhino, which Unesco says is critically endangered.
Javan rhinos have folds of loose skin that give their carapace the appearance of armor. Indonesian authorities estimate that their population is currently at 82 after years of decline. They once numbered in the thousands in Southeast Asia, but have been hit hard by rampant poaching and human encroachment on their natural habitat.