rhino — World News, Travel and Social Action

The Javan Rhinoceros is one of the world’s most endangered species, with only sixty remaining in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park.

Javan rhino. Courtesy of Indonesian Ministry of Environment/Forestry.

Javan Rhinoceroses used to be common throughout the continent of Asia, until poaching and habitat loss dwindled the population down to what is now a mere 60-68 rhinos, all found in Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia. The poaching of Javan rhinos largely began in colonial times, with the animal being a trophy for hunters. Now, the rhinos are poached primarily for their horns, which are extremely expensive and are sometimes used as status symbols among the extremely wealthy. Javan rhinos were declared extinct in Vietnam in 2010, when the last rhino in the country was poached, and now the only surviving Javan rhinos exist in Indonesia.

While poaching Javan rhinos is illegal, and they are considered a protected endangered species, reviving the population presents a major challenge for two main reasons. The first is that the extremely small number of surviving Javan rhinos doesn’t allow for much genetic diversity. The second issue is habitat loss as a result of both human intervention and natural disaster. Human activity near Ujung Kulon National Park has interfered with the rhinos’ natural habitats, and the push for more property development in the area threatens the security of the park. In terms of natural disasters threatening the rhinos’ last remaining habitat, the national park is located in an area that is susceptible to tsunamis and rising water levels as a result of climate change, and also happens to be near an active volcano, Anak Krakatau. Many conservationists are extremely nervous that if one of these natural disasters occured, all hope would be lost for the species even if there were a few survivors, because of the already miniscule genetic diversity within the population.

A member of the Rhino Protection Unit measures a Javan rhino’s footprint in Ujung Kulon National Park. U.S. Department of State. CC BY 2.0.

Even without the threat of natural disaster and human interference, Javan rhinos face an existing setback within their protected habitat. An invasive species called Arenga Palm grows in Ujung Kulon National Park. This plant blocks the sun, which prevents the plants that the rhinos eat from growing. The park has made clearing Arenga Palm a priority, but since it is an invasive species, eliminating it from the park entirely is not an easy task.

Ujung Kulon National Park does offer tours, providing an opportunity to ethically see the nearly extinct rhinos. However, since these tours are meant to be non-invasive, there is no guarantee that a Javan rhino will come into view during your time in the park. With that being said, tourists often see traces of the rhinos, such as footprints, like in the photo featured above.

Get Involved

The best way to get involved with this issue is to raise awareness and money for organizations working to sustain and increase the population of Javan Rhinoceros. Some of these organizations include World Wildlife, which is working on eliminating Arenga Palm and also hopes to one day transfer some Javan rhinos to an area which is not in the danger zone of the volcano Anak Krakatau. Another good organization to support is the International Rhino Foundation, which works directly with the staff of Ujung Kulon National Park. On a more general level, raising awareness about climate change and supporting organizations which respond to extreme weather is a way to get involved with this issue as well as many others, as climate change has only compounded the plight of the Javan Rhinoceros.

Anywhere from 24 to 150 animal species go extinct daily, with human activity as a primary cause. Here are eight animals that have recently gone extinct.

Many animal species have recently gone extinct at the hands of humans, which should be a wake up call about how our actions can harm wildlife and the environment. Learn about these eight recently extinct animals to see what you can do to help.

Poison Arrow Frog (Dendrobatidae). Jerry Kirkhart. CC BY 2.0.

1) Splendid Poison Frog

The IUCN added the splendid poison frog to the Red List of Endangered Species in 2004 and officially declared the species extinct in 2020, making it one of the most recently extinct species on the planet. These frogs are often referred to as poison arrow or poison dart frogs, and they are the brightest colored frogs in the world. Splendid poison frogs’ diets cause them to secrete toxins from their skin, and their bright colors warn predators of their toxicity. While the species lived in the humid lowlands and forests of western Panama, deforestation and habitat degradation severely harmed these areas and threatened the frogs. Human invasion such as with logging and construction in the area decreased the species’ population significantly.

Paddlefish, his mouth firmly shut. Shankar S. CC BY 2.0.

2) Chinese paddlefish

Like the baiji dolphin, the Chinese paddlefish (also known as the Chinese swordfish) was most commonly found in the Yangtze River and was one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. This ancient fish species has lived since the Lower Jurassic period and survived the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs and many reptiles. Yet, the biggest threat to their existence was human activities. In the 1970s and 80s, overfishing and construction severely decreased the species’ population size. By 1993, this disruption caused the fish to become functionally extinct, which meant that the species lacked the numbers to meaningfully reproduce. The species has not been spotted since 2003, and it was officially declared extinct in 2020.

Sumatran rhino. David Ellis. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

3) Sumatran Rhino

Sumatran rhinos—also known as Asian Two-Horned Rhinos—are the smallest and most endangered rhino species in the world. They generally live for between 35 and 40 years, and their habitat is the dense tropical forests mainly on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Due to poaching, the species’ numbers have decreased more than 70% over the last 20 years. The Sumatran rhino was officially declared extinct in mainland Malaysia in 2015 and in Malaysian Borneo in 2019. The last Sumatran rhino died in 2019.

4) Pinta giant tortoise

In 2012, “Lonesome George,” the world-famous tortoise, passed away at the estimated age of 100 years. George was the last remaining land tortoise from Pinta Island, a northern island in the Galapagos, and lived at the Charles Darwin Research Station since he was found in 1971. Most of his species went extinct because they were used as an onboard food source for 19th-century whalers, as well as due to habitat destruction. The Galapagos National Park searched for a mate for George for over three decades to try to save the Pinta subspecies, but they could not find one. When George passed away in 2012, the Pinta subspecies passed with him.

Black rhino. Corrie Barklimore. CC BY 2.0.

5) Western black rhino

The western black rhino, which was the most uncommon of the black rhino subspecies, went extinct in 2011. In the past, the species had a large range across central and western Africa, but it was not able to survive in the 20th century. Hunting for sport quickly decreased rhino populations, and industrial agriculture cleared rhino habitats to make fields and settlements. In addition, between 1960 and 1995, 98% of black rhinos were killed by poachers. By 1980, the western black rhino’s range had shrunk to only two countries: Cameroon and Chad. The species’ population had fallen to about 10 rhinos by 1997. Due to this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature added the species to the critically endangered species list in 2008, and declared them extinct in 2011.

6) Baiji

Commonly referred to as the Yangtze River dolphin, Baiji is the first dolphin species to become extinct because of human activity. The Yangtze River was the Baiji’s home for 20 million years, and it only took humans 50 years to completely wipe them out. The Baiji’s ability to communicate, navigate, avoid danger and find food became very challenging as the river became noisier and noisier due to humans. In 2006, researchers embarked on a six-week journey on the river for over 2,000 miles to search for the Baiji, but they were not able to detect any existing dolphins. They were declared extinct in 2007.

Treehunter. Nick Athanas. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

7) Cryptic treehunter

There have been no records of the cryptic treehunter since 2007, mainly due to extensive habitat loss in its region, Brazil. Cryptic treehunters were usually found in grasslands, woodlands and humid forests. Logging and conversion of forest to sugarcane plantations and pastureland was a major reason for the species’ decline. Some scientists believe that the species has not completely vanished due to their incredible hiding abilities, but since one has not been seen since 2007, it is unlikely.

Bouquetin—the French name for Pyrenean ibex. Jean-Raphaël Guillaumin. CC BY-SA 2.0.

8) Pyrenean ibex

Once a large population which roamed across France and Spain, the Pyrenean ibex is one of two subspecies of the Spanish ibex that was declared extinct in 2000. The last Pyrenean ibex died in January of 2000 when a falling tree killed her. After she died, scientists took skin cells from her ear and preserved them in liquid nitrogen. In 2003, her DNA was cloned into a new ibex, becoming the first species to be “unextinct.” However, the clone died minutes after it was created due to lung issues. Scientists suspect that the species went extinct due to poaching, disease and competition for food.