Low birthrates spell doom
for world's rarest rhino
Time and space are running out for the Javan Rhinoceros _ the
most endangered mammal in the world.
There are fewer than 60 left in the wild _ almost all in a
single Indonesian national park _ and numbers appear to be
declining for the first time in decades because of low birthrates,
said Christy Williams, the WWF's Asian Rhino Specialist.
"We need to take immediate, urgent action to try to move some of
these rhinos to another suitable site, either on Java or Sumatra
island," he said Friday. "If we don't act quickly, I think we could
lose this population."
The Javan rhino weighs 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms) and
measures more than 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Conservation
groups say it is the world's most endangered mammal.
About 50 live in Ujung Kulon National Park, but it appears that
only three of the females are breeding continuously, said Adhi
Rachmat Hariyadi, who leads WWF-Indonesia's project in the
park.
As a result, an average of one calf is born every year _ near to
the number of animals dying, and four times fewer than would be
needed to sustain a healthy, growing rhino population, he and
others say.
Williams said the park may have reached the maximum number of
rhinos it can support and the animals may also be struggling to
compete for scare resources with growing populations of wild
cattle.
The government is working with conservation groups to find a
suitable second site for the Java rhinos, which would help protect
them from catastrophic events like disease or natural disasters,
Williams said.
Researchers say a smaller population of Javan rhinos in Vietnam
does not appear to be breeding anymore.
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On the Net:
http://www.rhinos-irf.org
