#Picture of javan rhinoceros skin#

Another factor is an explosion of a volcano near Anak Krakatau, which can cause catastrophe to the species in the national park (Andre et al., 2018). Natural factors such as tsunamis in Ujung National Park have also endangered this species by drowning them. This has been caused mainly by people who clear habitats for the animal to settle or practice agriculture, making the rhinos vacate to areas with high chances of vulnerable attacks or even areas with hostile habitat conditions. Habitat loss is another cause of endangerment. Rangers charged with patrolling are neither accused nor held accountable when any rhinos are found killed. Law enforcement agencies have failed to patrol parts of the park strictly, and this has given giving poachers enough time to escape with the high-valued horns. Trophy hunting is another cause of threat to them, and this is due to the increase of European presence at the ranch.

The Chinese use the horns as traditional Chinese medicine.

Due to the high value of their horns, poachers have hunted them to get the horns and sell them to China at a very high price (Harrington & Gerber, 2020). The high value it has to people has made it remain topmost endangered primarily due to poaching. Its decline is due to various factors such as poachers, diseases, loss of habitat due to the aggressive Vietnam war, adverse climate change, and inbreeding depression due to genetic diversity loss. This is an apparent cause of alarm to this species as they are at risk of getting extinct (Harjanto & Mentari, 2019). The current population in Ujung National Park has been estimated to be 74. After the death of one of the males named Samson in 2018, only a population of 58 to 68 remained. The population decreased to 10.34% after the death of two rhinos in 2015. The birth rate was 13.79%, and the mortality rate was 3.45%. The population size in 2013 was a minimum of 58, with 8 of them being calves and the rest adults and sub-adults. In 2012 there were a total of 35 inclusive of both the young and the adults. The Ujung Kulon National Park monitoring programmers perform analysis to identify the population structure of Javan rhino from 2011 to 2019. Being browsers, they eat shoots, twigs, young foliage, and several grass species. They inhabit dense lowland rainforests with an adequate water supply many muds wallows, salt licks, and very tall grass. They were widespread in southeast Asia, while today, they are located in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java and Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. It has a life span of between 30 to 40 years, with the female having earlier sexual maturity of 5-6 years than the male, which matures at ten years. The weight of it is as much as 2.3 tones. The horns belong only to adult males since the females lack them. Its horn is slightly shorter than 25cm, making it have the shortest horns of all other species. It is 3.1-3.2 meters in length, while its height ranges from 1.4-1.7 meters.

#Picture of javan rhinoceros skin#

It belongs to the same genus, with Indian rhinoceros having similar mosaic and armor-like skin being dusk grey in color. It is also called Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, and it is a sporadic member of the Rhinocerotidae family. The above explanation made me draw all my attention and interest to that specific species of rhino. Poachers remove their tiny horns, which have high value in China since it is used as a source of medicine. Many people depend on the natural resource provided in their habitat, such as benefiting people who do business earning income when tourists visit the area (Wilson et al., 2020). Out of the five rhino species, Javan rhinoceros is the most threatened species despite being in the ecosystem for millions of years, playing a crucial role in shaping the landscape by its feeding style. In this project, I will focus on Javan rhinos as the topmost endangered and traded animal worldly.

The world’s most endangered animals include the Javan rhino, Vaquita, mountain gorillas, and Asian elephants. On the other hand, wildlife trading is selling either dead or alive animals or even their products such as rhino horn, elephant’s ivory, and tiger bone, among others. An endangered animal is any species of animal that is at risk of becoming extinct shortly due to either predation, poaching, or adverse change in climate in the motherland of the animal.