"Dramatic" New Pictures: Rare Javan Rhino Spotted

Rhino "Joy"

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

A Javan rhinoceros and her calf (left) snuffle through the undergrowth in a late 2010 camera-trap picture.

"It's such a joy to see these healthy calves calmly ambling through the dense tropical forest,” said Barney Long, head of Asian-species conservation at WWF-US.

"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.”

Published March 2, 2011

Rhino Closeup

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

A Javan rhinoceros seems to smile for the camera trap in 2010.

Once widespread throughout Southeast Asia, the mammal is now restricted to the rain forests of Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park.

Aside from natural disasters, the rhinoceros is also vulnerable to poaching for its horn, which some believe has medicinal properties, according to WWF.

(Related: "More Rhinos Hacked Apart as Horn Demand Spikes.")

Published March 2, 2011

Installing Traps

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

Workers install a video trap as part of the rhino-monitoring project, which operates in conjunction with several nonprofits and local communities.

Organizers hope that including local people in the monitoring effort will help them protect the species from poaching, oversee the remaining animals, and establish a new population of rhinos via relocation.

"Fifty years of conservation experience has taught us that saving Javan rhinos is possible through population management and proper protection," WWF's Long said.

"We've done it before—helping rhino populations rebound in Africa and South Asia—and we can do it again in Indonesia."

(Related: "Czech Zoo Sends Four Rare White Rhinos to Kenya.")

Published March 2, 2011

Forest Forager

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

The Javan rhinoceros, seen foraging in a late 2010 camera-trap picture, has been protected since 1931 in Indonesia, according to WWF.

Ujung Kulon National Park, located on southwestern Java (see map), was explicitly set aside for conservation of the species, the nonprofit's website says.

(See pictures of a "lost world" of new species found recently in Indonesia.)

Published March 2, 2011

"Armored" Animal

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

The Javan rhinoceros, pictured in late 2010, has a 10-inch-long (25-centimeter-long) horn and loose folds that give the appearance of armor plating, according to WWF.

The species looks a lot like the closely related Indian rhinoceros but is slightly smaller, with a tinier head and fewer skin folds.

(See "Rare One-Horned Rhino Bouncing Back in Nepal.")

Published March 2, 2011

Leopard Spotted

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

In addition to rhinos, the camera traps captured other forest species, including the critically endangered Javan leopard seen above.

Thought to number between 350 and 700 individuals, the big cat is declining due to habitat loss, poaching, and disappearing prey, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

(See related pictures: "'Lost' Deer, Rare Cuckoo Caught in Camera Traps.")

Published March 2, 2011

Banteng Strolling

Photograph courtesy Ujung Kulon National Park and WWF

A banteng roams Ujung Kulon National Park in a 2010 camera-trap picture.

The endangered ungulate has declined 80 percent across its Indochinese range, with Java as its last stronghold, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

(See more Indonesia pictures: "New Giant Rat, Pygmy Possum Discovered.")

Published March 2, 2011