On a leaf-covered dirt path overlooking lush paddy fields in western Indonesia, the world’s rarest rhino had left a trail of hoofprints in the soft mud and bite marks on foliage.
For people seeking a glimpse of the Javan rhino — revered in local folklore as Abah Gede, or the Great Father — such small signs are likely to be the closest they get.
There are an estimated 50 of the rhinos left in existence, all living in the wild in Ujung Kulon National Park, an area of stunning natural beauty on the western tip of Indonesia’s main island of Java.
Photo: AFP
However, conservationists are hoping that the country’s first ever Javan rhino sanctuary, which will open in the park in the coming months, can pull the animal back from the brink of extinction.
The shy creature, whose folds of loose skin give it the appearance of wearing armor plating, once numbered in the thousands and roamed across Southeast Asia.
However, like other rhino species across the world, poaching and human encroachment on its habitat has led to a dramatic population decline, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) saying the animal is “making its last stand.”
Photo: AFP / UJUNG KULON NATIONAL PARK
The new sanctuary will encompass 5,100 hectares of lush rainforest, freshwater streams and mudholes in the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It is not scheduled to open until March next year, but park officials say that from hoofprints and bite marks, they believe nine rhinos have already wandered into new areas set aside for them.
“It means our scheme to turn this sanctuary into a comfortable home for them is working,” said the park’s habitat manager Rusdianto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
The rhinos were already living mainly in one corner of the park. However, the new sanctuary has expanded the area suitable for them and relocated farmers who were living there to reduce the chances of animal-human conflict.
An electric fence is also being constructed — the final piece of work that needs to be completed — to mark the boundary and prevent the rhinos from straying out of the sanctuary, and humans from coming in.
Park officials, who are government employees, have also been planting suitable food for the rhinos. During a recent visit by reporters, workers were seen clearing palm trees from the area and replacing them with shrubs and small trees.
“We hope this sanctuary will hasten breeding and lead to more births of this treasured rare animal,” park boss Moh Haryono said. “In a more enclosed space, the male and female rhino will have more opportunities to frolic and mate freely.”
Yet setting up the sanctuary, which is government-run, but fully funded by the US-based charity the International Rhino Foundation, has been no easy task.
It was originally due to open in 2011, but was held up due to red tape, a common problem in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago, which has a huge and often inefficient bureaucracy.
However, all obstacles now seem to have been overcome and, barring any last-minute hold-ups, the sanctuary should officially open soon.
Nevertheless, it is just a small step in an uphill battle to save the Javan rhino. Officials in Ujung Kulon believe there were 51 of the rhinos last year, including eight calves, basing their estimate on images captured by hidden cameras.
They hope the true figure may be in the 70s and will have a new estimate once data for this year has been collated.
The case of the Javan rhinoceros highlights the plight of rhinos across the world, with other species also deemed to be under threat and some subspecies already believed to have died out.
Poaching, in particular, represents a severe threat, with rhino horns used in traditional Asian medicine fetching ever higher prices on the black market despite a lack of scientific evidence showing the horn has any medicinal value.
Wildlife officials have been heartened by strong support from the local community.
Any effort to save the rhino is applauded in an area where centuries-old beliefs persist and intertwine with the vast majority’s Muslim faith.
“We must do all we can to prevent the Javan rhino from becoming extinct,” said Suhaya, a 67-year-old farmer who goes by one name.
“Locals here believe that Abah Gede must not vanish from the face of the Earth, or disaster will befall us,” he added.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not