Javan rhinos breed at Ujung Kulon: WWF

Rare and endangered Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) are found to have bred calves in Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten province, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Indonesia.

WWF-Indonesia said video trap it has installed in cooperation with the Ujung Kulon National Park Authority documented two Javan rhino and their calves there. The videos recorded these endangered species activity from November to December 2010, WWF-Indonesia says in a press release to ANTARA, on Monday.

A clip from first video recorded in November 2010 showed mother and calf walking steadily to the video trap. Several more videos of this family were obtained from November to December, enabling proper and accurate identification of the calf. The calf then identified as a male Javan rhino.

On December 2010, another family successfully documented. The 30-seconds video shows a larger calf-compared to the male calf identified earlier-walked with its mother. Further identification proved that it is a female rhino, with an estimated age of 1 year old.

These findings are great news proving that Javan rhino breeds in Ujung Kulon National Park-especially after rhinos death last year.

"Video evidences showing these two calves are important discoveries as they provides us with substantial information about Javan rhino`s population dynamics in Ujung Kulon National Park," explained Head of Ujung Kulon National Park Authority, Agus Priambudi.

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