Rainforest Animals - Javan Rhinoceros

Javan Rhinoceros: Rhinoceros sondaicus - S. Asia, Sumatra, Java

IUCN Red List status: Critically endangered

All five species of rhinoceros are threatened with extinction. The three Asian species are in great danger, and there are doubts that the rhinoceros can survive in Asia beyond the end of this century.

Like so many other animals, the Javan rhinoceros has suffered heavy persecution at the hand of man, and this once common species declined so rapidly in numbers that in the late 1960's it was thought there were only 24 survivors in the wild.

Thanks to careful conservation and protection the Javan rhinoceros has steadily increased in number over the past few years.  It is estimated that there might be as many as 40-60 living in the dense forests of its range. It is the destruction of these forests that will threaten all the successful protection achieved through the efforts of many conservationists from several countries.

The Javan and Gt. Indian rhinoceros have only one horn, the Sumatran rhinoceros has two. The Sumatran is the smallest and hairiest of all the five species.