The ministry's Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Satyawan Pudyatmoko explained here on Friday that out of the Asian countries that once hosted Javan rhinoceros populations, only Indonesia has managed to maintain them.
Estimates suggest there are 87-100 Javan rhinos living in Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten.
Pudyatmoko made this statement in response to a question from ANTARA regarding the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) list of the 10 most critically endangered animals, half of which are found in Indonesia.
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Historically, the Javan rhinoceros species was known to be distributed not only on the islands of Java and Sumatra but also across Southeast Asia, extending to India, Bhutan, and China.
Currently, the Javan rhino is found only in Ujung Kulon National Park and is considered extinct elsewhere.
The species is now classified as critically endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the latest data, its population is estimated to be between 87 and 100 individuals.
Besides the Javan rhinoceros, Indonesia continues its conservation efforts for the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), which is also critically endangered.
Indonesia houses the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, East Lampung, to protect and attempt to boost the population of the Sumatran rhinoceros.
“We are also the only ones who still have (the Sumatran rhino), so although there are some animals that are critically endangered, we must work on how such small populations can survive,” he remarked.
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Translator: Prisca, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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