Javan rhino
The Javan rhino is most closely related to the Indian rhino. Just like the Indian rhino, the Javanese species has only one horn, with a female the horn is small or missing. The Javan rhino is one of the rarest species in the world.
Practical information Javanese rhino.
- Shape: The Javan rhino are between 1.40 m and 1.70 m high, with a length of between 3.00 m and 3.15 m.
- Weight: The Javan rhino weighs between 900 kg - 2300 kg.
- Birth weight: The Indian rhino weighs between 58 kg and 70 kg. Not many Javanese rhinos were weighed.
- Hair & skin: The skin of the Javan rhino is dark gray / brown, and appears black when the rhino is wet. Just like the Indian rhino, the Javanese rhino has a unique armor in their appearance with folds around the neck. The skin is covered with a mosaic pattern which gives it a scale-like appearance. All types of rhinos have tassels of hair on their eyelids, ears and end of their tails.
- Distinctive features: In all rhino species that eat leaves you see a long pointed upper lip, as well as the Javan rhino. The Javan rhino has poor visibility, but can hear and smell well. The Javan rhinos have long sharp dagger-shaped incisors, these are used during combat and can cause deep wounds. They also have two rows of six strong wide molars on each side. The enamel edges on these teeth are used to cut woody parts of their food into 1 - 2 cm pieces. For older rhinos, after years of wear and tear, it becomes more difficult to break down their food.
Behavior & reproduction.
- Social: The Javan rhino generally lives solitary, only females with there young are seen together or males with there female during mating. Groups with young animals sometimes occur.
- Sexual maturity: The male is sexually mature after 6 years, the female after 4 years.
- Fragrance marking: The common manure heaps are not common in the Javan rhino due to the low population density. The Javan rhino sometimes drags a hind leg a few meters through the manure to create a trace with odor marking.
- Male territory: The male territory is quite large 12 - 20 km2. They only marginally overlap with other male territories. There is no evidence whether these territories are defended with battles as happened with other species.
- Female territory: The female has an area of 3 - 14 km2 and overlaps considerably.
- Gestation and birth: When a female is in oestrus, the male and female will socialize. Javanese rhinos wear for around 16 - 19 months. The reproduction of the Javan rhino is very slow, they only have a calf once every 4 - 5 years.
- Sounds and calls: The Javan rhinos are not very vocal, only a few sounds are known. It is thought that odor markers play a more prominent role in communication between peers.
- Activities: A large part of the day Javanese rhinos spend rolling in mud pools. For this they use existing puddles, but also temporary puddles due to rainfall that they deepen with their feet and horn. Access to mud pools is essential for every rhino species to optimally maintain thermoregulation & skin condition and to get rid of parasites. It is known that Javanese rhinos occasionally drink sea water to get the necessary electrolytes.
Interesting facts.
- Behaviour: Rhinos often roll in the mud, which serves as a cooling technique, sunscreen & insect repellent. After rolling, the color of the rhino comes over with the mud that has been rolled in.
- Speed: The rhino can reach the speed of 40 km / h in the event of danger.
- Age: The Javan rhino is on average 35 to 40 years old.
- Food: The Javan rhino mainly feeds with large leaves, twigs and young shoots. The Javan rhino has a large species diversity in its diet, but around 40% of its diet comes from common plant species. Most plant species eaten by the rhino grow in vegetation without tall trees. Javan rhinos rarely feed on areas where the amount of food available is low. Despite their preference for feeding vegetation types without tall trees, the Javan rhino is probably dependent on the occurrence of forest in the area. Forest offers protection against the sun, are a source of saplings eaten by rhinos and cause fewer fluctuations in the water supply.
- The horn: The Javan rhinos have a single horn that darkens in color over the years. Females often have a small horn or just a bulge. The horn is on average narrower than 20 cm long, the longest horn ever measured was 27 cm. The horn is not used to fight but to scrape in the mud, search for food and head protection when walking through thick bushes. The horn grows back if it breaks off.
Threats.
Extinction: The Javan rhino is threatened with extinction. This is due to the following causes:
- All rhino species are currently experiencing a demographic crisis due to the illegal horn poaching. In addition to medicines, the horn is also used with handles of daggers. Although poaching is not his biggest threat to the Javan rhino, it is present. Without protection it is possible that poachers would become active again, which would lead to the extinction of the Javan rhino.
- The population of the Javan rhino is now on the Ujung Kulon peninsula where they are quite isolated. The area consists of around 39,000 hectares. The population is therefore very sensitive to disturbance of any kind, be it disease, loss of habitat, tsunami or volcano eruption. The Anak Krakatau volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and is located 60 km from Ujung Kulon.
- Due to the isolation there is a greatly increased chance of inbreeding, inbreeding contributes to higher mortality rates, slower growth and reduced fertility. The ratio between males and females is 3: 2 in favor of the males. As a result, there is a surplus of males which makes it difficult to find a partner.
- Normally a 7% growth is normal in a rhino population. This would mean that 4 calves must be born each year. However, currently only 4 calves are born every 4 years. This means that there is just a decrease in the population. It is currently being investigated whether part of the population can be relocated in order to increase their habitat and make them less vulnerable.
- Loss of food sources due to the growth of plant species, the palm long canopy increases rapidly in numbers and distribution, so that almost no other plant species can grow. Fighting this palm is expensive and very labor intensive.
Location: The Javan rhino can only be found on the Ujung Kulon peninsula in West Java. The Javan rhino was once fairly common in much of South Asia. At the beginning of the 19th century you regularly saw the Javan rhino in the outskirts of Jakarta. The population then became so large that they were seen as a plague, after which they were actively hunted.
