A very rare Javan rhinoceros calf has been spotted in an Indonesian national park in Java. The animal was captured with its mother on a wildlife camera.

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Nature released the photos this weekend and expressed relief at seeing another cub. The Javan rhinoceros is critically endangered. It is estimated that about eighty remain. They live in Ujung Kulon National Park on the southwestern tip of Java. Until fourteen years ago, this species was also found in Vietnam, but the last rhino was poached there in 2010.

The Ministry estimates that the cub’s age ranges between three and five months. The animal’s gender is unknown because it was not facing the camera.

In 2022 and 2023, two new Javan rhino calves were also spotted using a wildlife camera. The Ministry warns against being overly optimistic about the survival of this species. “The habitat and individual Javan rhinos are not immune from disturbances such as poaching, disease, prey by yaks (a type of wolf in Asia, ed.) and potential problems due to inbreeding.”

The Javan rhinoceros was a common species that lived in large parts of Southeast Asia. In the early 19th century, it was not uncommon to encounter one on the outskirts of what was then known as Batavia (Jakarta). The animal was even considered a pest and hunted extensively.