Javan rhinoceros

The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is a one-horned rhinoceros native to Indonesia. Its last wild population survives in Ujung Kulon National Park on Java.

Ujung Kulon National Park: A protected area at Java’s western tip, home to the last wild population of Javan rhinoceroses. Its forests and lowland habitat shelter the species’ only known wild population.
Rhinoceros: A family of large, thick-skinned herbivorous mammals with one or two horns on the snout. The Javan rhinoceros is one of five living rhinoceros species.
Poaching: The illegal hunting or capture of wild animals. Demand for rhinoceros horn drove killing across the species’ former range.
Population viability analysis: A method for estimating the likelihood that a population will persist under specified conditions. It can help assess whether the isolated population can withstand future threats.
Cat Tien National Park: A protected area in southern Vietnam where the last mainland Javan rhinoceros population lived. The species’ extinction there in 2010 ended its presence outside Indonesia.
Rhinoceros sondaicus: The scientific name of the Javan rhinoceros, a species in the family Rhinocerotidae. This species name distinguishes the Javan rhinoceros from other rhinoceroses.
Habitat loss: The reduction, degradation, or fragmentation of natural habitat. Forest conversion and human settlement helped eliminate Javan rhinoceroses from much of their range.
Genetic diversity: The variety of genetic differences among individuals in a population or species. The population’s isolation raises questions about inbreeding and long-term adaptability.
Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros: The mainland subspecies of Javan rhinoceros, declared extinct after the last known individual was killed in 2010. Its loss illustrates the species’ former mainland range and its disappearance from Vietnam.
Rhinoceros horn: A keratin structure growing from a rhinoceros’s snout, rather than a bony horn with a core. The species’ single horn is a defining physical feature and a target of poaching.

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