Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros, Lesser one-horned rhinoceros
The Javan rhinoceros is amongst the world’s rarest big mammals. It is prehistoric-looking, is a dusky gray color, and has a single horn. Its hairless skin has several loose folds, which look like armor plating. Every Javan rhino lives in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park, which makes this species even more under threat of extinction. However, the numbers have been slowly increasing over the last five years and the establishment of a second population may soon mean that the species will have much-needed extra capacity. If the rhinos in Java are lost, the species will be extinct.
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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PrecocialPrecocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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BrowsingBrowsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore (or, more narrowly defined, a folivore) feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high-growi...
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NatatorialNatatorial animals are those adapted for swimming. Some fish use their pectoral fins as the primary means of locomotion, sometimes termed labriform...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withJavan rhinos live only in the Ujung Kulon National Park in the very western part of Java. They inhabit dense, lowland rain forests, grasslands, and reed beds with abundant rivers, large floodplains, or wet areas with many mud wallows.
There are still big gaps in information about Javan rhinos, as they are very difficult to study, and very little is known regarding their social behavior. They are solitary animals, except for breeding pairs and mothers with young. Their range extends from 3 to 20 sq m, and various groups have ranges that overlap each other. Javan rhinos sometimes gather in groups at salt-licks and wallows, the latter allowing them to maintain a cool body temperature and helping to prevent parasite infection and disease. Javan rhinos generally do not dig mud wallows themselves, preferring to use those of other animals or naturally occurring pits, enlarging them with their horn. They are much less vocal compared to related species, and very few vocalizations from Javan rhinos have been recorded.
Javan rhinos are herbivores (folivores, frugivores). They mostly eat by browsing consuming leaves, twigs, young shoots, and fallen fruit.
Javan rhinos live in very dense jungles and they have never been bred in captivity, so very little information is to hand with regard to their mating system. Pairs form for mating, which might mean that Javan rhinos are polygynous. The mating season is roughly from July through to November. Gestation is for 16 months, and births occur every four to five years. A single rhinoceros is born at one time. A young rhino is active soon after birth. It will be nursed by its mother for up to one to two years. Females reach maturity when they are three to four years old, and males after six years.
The huge decline in Javan rhinoceros numbers has been mostly attributed to being hunted for its horn and other body parts to be used for traditional Chinese medicine. Habitat loss from logging and development has had a big impact on the species, and it has also suffered from disease and natural disasters, either of which could destroy an entire population.
According to the IUCN Red List resource, the total population size of the Javan rhino is 68 individuals. All of them live in Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java. Currently, this species is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.