Javan Rhinoceros

The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is a single-horned rhinoceros and one of the rarest large mammals on Earth, with the entire wild population now confined to Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of Java, Indonesia. Adults weigh between 900 and 2,300 kilograms and are distinguished by their grey, armor-like skin, which forms deep folds across the shoulders, back, and hindquarters. The species is a browser, feeding on shoots, twigs, young leaves, and fallen fruit in dense lowland rainforest, and its foraging behavior helps maintain forest structure by opening gaps that support plant diversity.

The Javan rhinoceros is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 80 individuals estimated to survive as of recent surveys conducted within Ujung Kulon. The species was historically distributed across much of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula, but the last confirmed individual outside Indonesia was shot by a poacher in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam, in 2010. The primary threats today include the catastrophically small population size, the risk of a single disease outbreak or natural disaster affecting the entire species, inbreeding, and the encroachment of the invasive Arenga palm, which degrades critical habitat within the park.