Last year saw the birth of seven Javan Rhino calves at the Ujung Kulon park, this number being the highest the country has experienced in the space of a year. The news uplifted the country after fears that the Javan Rhino was well on its way to extinction. Such news has proved as a huge motivation for the country’s conservation teams to carry on their incredible work, with the Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stating: “Actually, we thought that the Javan rhino would become extinct but apparently there were [calves being born]. How can we not be happy? We will ask President Joko ‘ Jokowi’ Widodo to give names to the four calves while the other three will be named by the [local] regent.”.
Ujung Kulon Park announced that the birth has brought the population number to 63, with all of them currently living in the park. Though the animal is still classified as critically endangered the news of the births brought hope across the nation.