Javan Rhinoceros:

Most endangered large mammal

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently declared the 10 animal species on the brink of extinction and the Junior Observer featured a graphic of them in the back cover, last week. Among these animals who are faced with the possibility of being wiped out of the Earth completely is the Javan Rhinoceros.

A member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of the five species of rhinoceros still existing, it belongs to the same genus as the Indian Rhinoceros. The genus name Rhinoceros is derived from Greek: rhino meaning nose and ceros meaning horn. It is also known as the Lesser One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinocerus Sondaicus) and Sunda Rhinocerus.

Once, the most widespread of Asian rhinoceroses, the Javan Rhinoceros (which ranged from the islands of Indonesia throughout Southeast Asia and also into India and China), is now found only in Indonesia and Vietnam.

There are two known popularities of this critically endangered species in the wild; about 40 to 50 are known to live in Kulon National Park on the island of Java in Indonesia and about 10 or even a lesser number, in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam.

It is historically known to have inhabited lowland rain forests, wet grasslands and large floodplain in the wide range it once lived.

Poaching for its prized horn and loss of habitat are the two main reasons for the decline of this large mammal which is now labelled as the “rarest and most endangered large mammal on Earth’.Most of you must have seen a rhinoceros in the zoo, but the Javan rhino, though very similar in appearance, has many differences.

It is smaller in size than its cousin, the Indian Rhinoceros which is also known as the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros.

The body to head length of the Javan rhino is about 3.1 to 3.2 m (10 to 10.5 feet). It can reach a height of 1.4 to 1.7 m (4.6 to 5.8 feet). As you are aware that rhinos are generally huge animals, it may not come as a surprise to learn that the Javan rhino, even though smaller than the Indian species we are familiar with, weighs between 900 and 2,300 kg (2,000 and 5,100 lb).

The rhinos in Java appear to be significantly smaller in size than those found in Vietnam according to scientists. Like its Indian cousin, the Javan species two has only a single horn (the other species have two horns).

The Javan rhino’s horn is the smallest horn among all rhinos, generally about 20 cm (7.9 inches) in length. The longest horn recorded from this species was only 27 cm (10 1/2 inches).

Even though the rhinos are known to use their horns in combat, the Javan rhino does not appear to often use its horn for fighting. However, it uses its horn to scrape mud away in wallows to pull down plants when it wants to eat, and also to open up paths through the thick vegetation it moves about in.

The Javan rhino’s skin is very different from that of the other rhinos. The hairless, splotchy gray to gray-brown skin falls in folds in the shoulder, back and rump area. The natural mosaic pattern gives the rhino an armoured look. The neck folds which form a saddle shape are smaller than that of its Indian cousin.

There are three distinct subspecies but only two of them are known to exist.They are the Indonesian Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus) Vietnamese Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) and the Indian Javan Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondicus inermis). The latter is believed to have become extinct in the first decade of the 1900s.

The name inermis (which means unarmed) has been given to this species because of the distinctive small horns in males and evident lack of it in females.Like all rhinos, the Javan rhino too has a good sense of smell and hearing, but its vision is rather poor.

The Javan rhino has a long, pointed prehensile upper lip which aids the animal in grabbing its food. It is a herbivore which survives by eating diverse plant species, especially the shoots, twigs and the tender leaves.

It also eats fallen fruits. Would you believe that the rhino eats an estimated 50kg (110 lbs) of food daily? And, unlike most animals, the rhino needs salt in its diet.

So, as salt licks (places where animals lick salt from the ground) normally found in its natural range are not found in Ujung Kulon park, the rhinos have been observed to drink sea water, most likely to meet the nutritional need.The Javan rhinos are solitary animals with the exception of breading pairs and mothers with calves.

They are seen in small groups only near salt licks and mud wallows. All rhinos love to wallow in mud because this activity allows them to maintain a cool body temperature. It also helps to present diseases and parasite infestations.

You may have observed cattle, especially buffaloes and elephants wallowing in mud.The females reach maturity at three to four years of age while the males mature at six years. After a gestatation (pregnancy) period of about 16 to 19 months, the female gives birth to a calf.

The calf is weaned at around two years. The female will produce another calf only after about four to five years. This low birth rate is having an adverse impact on the population and we humans two are making it impossible for this animal to exist on this Earth by killing it and destroying its habitats.