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Endangered Javan rhinos caught on film, with babies

The world has only 40 Javan rhinoceroses left, many of them hunkered down in their last safe refuge, Ujung Kulon National Park at the southernmost tip of Java. That’s why video of two rhinos with their calves has rhino watchers ecstatic—it means that this population is busy making more of their species.

Motion-triggered cameras captured the rhinos emerging from their jungle home. The rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park still remains under threat from natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, or disease. Humans also threaten the animals, often poaching them for their horns.

Nevertheless, rhino conservationists hailed the images. “This is fantastic news because, before these camera trap images surfaced, only twelve other Javan rhino births were recorded in the past decade,” said Adhi Hariyadi, who leads World Wildlife Fund-Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon Program. For now, at least, the Javan rhinos are having babies and emerging from their jungle refuge, camera ready for their close-ups.

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Posted 
March 13, 2011
 in 
Earth

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