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An exciting discovery was made at the Ujung Kulon National Park (TNUK) in Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province, on May 7, 2024. The Javan Rhino Monitoring Team from the Ujung Kulon National Park Office managed to record the birth of a new Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) using the systematic sampling (cluster) camera trap installation method.
The camera managed to capture images of the mother and calf of the Javan rhinoceros, which is suspected to be a new calf. This recording took place at 05.50 WIB, and the team's identification results showed that the Javan rhino calf was estimated to be between three and five months old and female.
The calf was given the identity ID.094.2024. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya named her Iris on September 6, 2024, at an event at the ministry's office at the Manggala Wanggala Wanabakti Building in Jakarta, which was also attended by Bezos Earth Fund Senior Fellow Lord Zac Goldsmith and Bezos Earth Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Steer.
The mother of this new calf is Putri (ID.040.2012) who has just given birth for the first time. Putri has distinctive characteristics in the form of a fairly clear coconut horn, normal right and left ears without scars or defects, and a normal tail.
When approaching the camera trap, the mother rhino showed an aggressive response by attacking the camera. This is thought to be due to the rhino's sensitivity to infrared and the possibility of a foreign odor from the camera trap unit. In addition, mother rhinos tend to be more aggressive in protecting their young children.
Ujung Kulon National Park Office Head Ardi Andono praised the tireless efforts of the monitoring team who continue to search for and place camera traps in the forest every month. He claimed that this success was supported by the fully protected area policy for all Javan rhino habitats in TNUK, which allows Javan rhinos to breed well naturally.
This discovery adds to the list of Javan rhino births in Ujung Kulon National Park. In 2022 and 2023, two new Javan rhino calves were also recorded by camera traps at the same location. The two calves are females with the identities ID.091.2022 and ID.092.2023.
Although there have been births of calves, it does not mean that the habitat and individuals of the Javan rhinoceros are safe from various threats. Hunting activities, predators such as ajag or wild dogs, disease, inbreeding, and natural disasters remain serious threats to the existence and sustainability of the Javan rhinoceros.
"We and all parties who assist in efforts to conserve the Javan rhinoceros must not be careless and must always anticipate any threats that may occur," he said, adding the importance of the discovery as a sustainable and collaborative conservation effort to ensure a brighter future for one of the world's most endangered species.
