In April, WWF specialists teamed up with Cat Tien staff and, guided by information from local people, placed ten infrared-triggered cameras at various locations throughout the park. The resulting pictures, are the first photos ever taken in the wild of this highly endangered creature.
Rhinoceros sondaicus
Rhinoceros: from the Greek rhino, meaning "nose" and ceros, meaning "horn" sondaicus: referring to the Sunda islands in Indonesia. (Latin -icus indicates a locality);
"Sunda" means "Java"
They can weigh from 2,000 - 3,000 pounds or more, stand up to 6 feet at the shoulder and has a single horn measuring around 10 inches.
The Javan Rhinoceros is perhaps the most endangered mammal in the world. Only two populations are known to exist. In the Ujung Kulon National Park on Java -- Indonesia there are about 50 to 60 animals. The second population is in Cat Tien National Park -- Vietnam where less than 10 animals remain. The Vietnam Government established the Cat Loc Rhinoceros Reserve covering about 35,000 ha.In 1998 it was integrated with the Cat Tien National Park.(Source:WWF)
Conservation groups,including WWF, are providing guard stations and guard training,motorbikes, a speedboat and other vehicles to support the guarding of the rhino habitat. conducting A fecal DNA based census on the rhino population is now underway, and a local environmental education campaign has been launched."I can't think of many places in the world where the human derived pressures on biodiversity are higher than they are in Vietnam. WWF and the Vietnamese authorities are working closely together to try and create win-win situations under extremely difficult circumstances. The Javan rhino, perhaps the most endangered mammal species on the planet, is clearly on the edge. We're doing everything we can to pull it back from the brink, but success is far from guaranteed," says Dr. Steve Osofsky, senior program officer at WWF.
The biggest threat to these animals is poaching and the loss of land. In South Korea, the horn is used primarily for the treatment of a variety of ailments ranging from epilepsy, fevers, strokes and even AIDS. With settlers moving in and turning the forest into agricultural land, it will be very hard for this animal to survive.Ironically, in the 18th century rhinos were so numerous and damaging to plantations in Java that the government paid money to have them killed; 500 were bagged within two years.
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