Javan Rhino news
- Thread starter dean
- Start date
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
This is a newly released information from the Ujung Kulon National Park and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, so some details are still unknown and has yet to reach mainstream news.
For the first time ever in recent history, on early November, the Indonesian government and other entities like Taman Safari Indonesia has translocated an Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus) from the wild in Ujung Kulon to a specialized conservation facility called the "Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area" or JRSCA for short. Titled "Operation Red and White", on November 3, the single male rhino, named Musofa, fell into a pit trap filled with water that was set by the professional staffs and some military members. After finding no sign of physical and high stress level, Musofa is later transported using specialized vehicles supplied by the military in order to traverse the harsh terrain Musofa lives in.
Musofa arrives to JRSCA two days later and is undergoing a habituation period to now being under human care. JRSCA is modelled after the already established facility for the western Sumatran rhinos (D. s. sumatrensis) and I think partly also the Bornean rhinoceros (D. s. harrissoni).
Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon on Instagram: "PRESS RELEASE Pertama Kali dalam Sejarah: Badak Jawa Ditranslokasi dengan Dukungan Transportasi KAPA K-61 Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut Dunia konservasi Indonesia kembali mencatat sejarah baru. Untuk pertama kalinya, satu individu Badak Jawa (Rhinoceros sondaicus) bernama Musofa ditranslokasi dari habitat alaminya menuju kawasan konservasi khusus Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area (JRSCA) di Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon (TNUK). Proses translokasi yang dinamai “Operasi Merah Putih” ini menandai langkah monumental dalam upaya penyelamatan spesies endemik Indonesia yang sangat terancam punah, sekaligus menegaskan bahwa kolaborasi strategis antara Kementerian Kehutanan dan Tentara Nasional Indonesia, khususnya dukungan penuh Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut menjadi kunci dalam misi konservasi berisiko tinggi. Operasi Merah Putih dipimpin oleh Komandan Satuan Tugas adalah Komandan Resor Militer (Danrem) 064/Maulana Yusuf Banten, dengan Wakil Komandan Satuan Tugas yaitu Komandan Pangkalan TNI Angkatan Laut (Danlanal) Banten dan Kepala Balai TN Ujung Kulon. Sebelum Operasi Merah Putih dilakukan di lapangan, rangkaian persiapan dilakukan untuk memastikan seluruh tim berada pada kesiapan terbaik. Salah satu tahapan paling krusial adalah simulasi penggunaan kendaraan amfibi KAPA K-61 Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut, yang disusun untuk memetakan tantangan medan yang akan dihadapi saat membawa kandang angkut berisi badak jawa yang diestimasikan memiliki berat lebih dari satu ton. Selain itu, pada 25 September 2025, Kementerian Kehutanan (Kemenhut), Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), dan Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI) menggelar Tactical Floor Game (TFG) di Auditorium Manggala Wanabakti, Jakarta. TFG berfungsi sebagai simulasi strategis untuk memastikan bahwa setiap peran, jalur evakuasi, rencana cadangan, dan respons risiko dipahami seluruh tim. Tahapan ini menjadi fondasi penting yang memungkinkan Operasi Merah Putih berjalan efektif dan terkoordinasi hingga mencapai hasil terbaik. (lanjut di kolom komentar)"
For the first time ever in recent history, on early November, the Indonesian government and other entities like Taman Safari Indonesia has translocated an Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus) from the wild in Ujung Kulon to a specialized conservation facility called the "Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area" or JRSCA for short. Titled "Operation Red and White", on November 3, the single male rhino, named Musofa, fell into a pit trap filled with water that was set by the professional staffs and some military members. After finding no sign of physical and high stress level, Musofa is later transported using specialized vehicles supplied by the military in order to traverse the harsh terrain Musofa lives in.
Musofa arrives to JRSCA two days later and is undergoing a habituation period to now being under human care. JRSCA is modelled after the already established facility for the western Sumatran rhinos (D. s. sumatrensis) and I think partly also the Bornean rhinoceros (D. s. harrissoni).
Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon on Instagram: "PRESS RELEASE Pertama Kali dalam Sejarah: Badak Jawa Ditranslokasi dengan Dukungan Transportasi KAPA K-61 Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut Dunia konservasi Indonesia kembali mencatat sejarah baru. Untuk pertama kalinya, satu individu Badak Jawa (Rhinoceros sondaicus) bernama Musofa ditranslokasi dari habitat alaminya menuju kawasan konservasi khusus Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area (JRSCA) di Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon (TNUK). Proses translokasi yang dinamai “Operasi Merah Putih” ini menandai langkah monumental dalam upaya penyelamatan spesies endemik Indonesia yang sangat terancam punah, sekaligus menegaskan bahwa kolaborasi strategis antara Kementerian Kehutanan dan Tentara Nasional Indonesia, khususnya dukungan penuh Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut menjadi kunci dalam misi konservasi berisiko tinggi. Operasi Merah Putih dipimpin oleh Komandan Satuan Tugas adalah Komandan Resor Militer (Danrem) 064/Maulana Yusuf Banten, dengan Wakil Komandan Satuan Tugas yaitu Komandan Pangkalan TNI Angkatan Laut (Danlanal) Banten dan Kepala Balai TN Ujung Kulon. Sebelum Operasi Merah Putih dilakukan di lapangan, rangkaian persiapan dilakukan untuk memastikan seluruh tim berada pada kesiapan terbaik. Salah satu tahapan paling krusial adalah simulasi penggunaan kendaraan amfibi KAPA K-61 Marinir TNI Angkatan Laut, yang disusun untuk memetakan tantangan medan yang akan dihadapi saat membawa kandang angkut berisi badak jawa yang diestimasikan memiliki berat lebih dari satu ton. Selain itu, pada 25 September 2025, Kementerian Kehutanan (Kemenhut), Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), dan Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI) menggelar Tactical Floor Game (TFG) di Auditorium Manggala Wanabakti, Jakarta. TFG berfungsi sebagai simulasi strategis untuk memastikan bahwa setiap peran, jalur evakuasi, rencana cadangan, dan respons risiko dipahami seluruh tim. Tahapan ini menjadi fondasi penting yang memungkinkan Operasi Merah Putih berjalan efektif dan terkoordinasi hingga mencapai hasil terbaik. (lanjut di kolom komentar)"
Attachments
I believe as far as I can recall the last was held in Adelaide zoo in about 1910 it was believed at the time to be an Indian rhino.
So that would be 115 Years.
You should be able to Google some information about that animal from what I remember seeing a few pics it was kept in a concrete walled enclosure it may of been the same animal that was formerly kept in the Javan tea gardens, It is nowadays held in the Adelaide museum as a mounted exhibit!
The last Javan rhinoceros to be exhibited in a zoo was housed in Adelaide Zoo between 12th April 1886 and 4th February 1907. For the twenty plus years it lived in the zoo, it was labelled as an Indian rhino and it wasn't identified as a Javan rhino until long after its death when its remains were examined in the Adelaide Museum....
This I believe is a major game changer for Jawan rhino conservation in situ!
For a considerable time now the Indonesian conservation authorities have been talking about setting up a second satellite Jawan rhino population away from the remote Ujung Kulon NP. Two principal reasons come to mind: 1) population management at both in situ and ex situ for the conservation of the Jawan rhino species and 2) spreading the risks of calamities and population crash in the source population.
Since some time, it has been known that the Jawan rhino population in Ujung Kulon NP is limited due to little to no opportunity to expand the conservation area, the preponderance of Areca and other non-palatable trees preventing rhino number expansion and occupying vacant habitat within Ujung Kulon as well as the disease risks (some Jawan rhinos succumbed obviously to disease over the last decade) and the poaching incidents of the last few years inside the NP (most concerning).
In all, I expect now more Jawan rhinos to be captured in traps as per model used for Sumateran rhino capture in Sumatera with the Ujung Kulon Jawan rhino individuals living on the outskirts of the Ujung Kulon NP.
Remember that the JRSCA will be a halfway house for - in future - relocating individuals or offspring of this second - now ex situ - population to a new safe and secure rhino reserve on either Central or East Jawa.
If they don't get a handle on the poaching on such a small population all this might be for nothing!
When I looked at the photo I thought it was a taxidermied one, until I realised it was covered in fresh mud! Finally after decades of inaction and depressing articles about fresh poaching outbreaks and population census overestimates, some concrete positive news. Now they just need a couple of breeding-age females for starters.
Properly a perceived lack of interest among the public in general by the media where politics seem to dominate almost everything!
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
It's a busy month anyway in Indonesian media, and, aside from environmental issues, conservation news never usually reaches people's consciousness here.
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
Not that we know of, but probably no. The entire facility seems to only be build fairly recently.
But I've read that they experiencing by interestingly learning of the management of white rhinoceros instead, since Taman Safari Indonesia, who is one of the main stakeholder here, have a very long and somewhat of a succesful record of keeping and breeding them.
Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI) on Instagram: "Memindahkan Badak Jawa Ternyata Perlu SOP, Analisis Risiko, dan Analisis Etik, loh, apa itu ya? Hai Sobat BaCuSa dan #SahabatBadak! Ada tiga hal yang harus dipersiapkan dalam proses pemindahan satwa. Apa saja itu?, Yuuu kita kepoin … SOP Pemindahan Badak Ini panduan lengkap dari A sampai Z tentang proses pemindahan badak. Mulai dari persiapan, penanganan di lapangan, transportasi, sampai pemantauan setelah tiba di lokasi baru. Semua diatur agar aman untuk badak serta tim yang bertugas.
Analisis Risiko Ini penting sekali! Tujuannya untuk mengidentifikasi dan menganalisis potensi bahaya selama pemindahan. Dari cedera badak, stres akibat perjalanan, sampai tantangan di lokasi baru—semuanya dievaluasi agar bisa diantisipasi. 
Analisis Etik Tidak hanya soal teknis, tapi juga soal tanggung jawab moral. Analisis ini memastikan pemindahan dilakukan dengan memperhatikan kesejahteraan badak, memperhatikan kelestarian ekosistem, dan sesuai dengan prinsip konservasi yang berkelanjutan. Karena badak jawa hanya ada di Indonesia, jadi, setiap langkah harus ekstra hati-hati agar spesies langka kebanggaan kita ini tetap lestari. Untuk itu, Balai TN Ujung Kulon bersama YABI pada 10-11 Maret 2025 mengumpulkan para pihak baik Direktorat KSG, KSDAE, Kemenhut RI; SOPS Panglima TNI; IPB University; Taman Safari Indonesia; ALeRT Indonesia; dan WWF Indonesia di Royal Safari Garden, Bogor, untuk pembahasan mengenai tiga hal penting tersebut. Yuk, kita tunggu hasilnya semoga sukses untuk kelestarian badak jawa identitas bangsa. Badak jawa, hanya kita yang punya. Ayo jaga bersama! #badakjawa #ujungkulon #yayasanbadakindonesia #btnuk #tamannasionalujungkulon"
Last edited:
The site Monogaby reports recently Javan rhino numbers have dropped by 1/3rd recently due to poaching!
I'm sure Mongabey will report on this latest update at some stage, their reports are always very good.
Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI One) in Bogor has a longer history with rhinos and was the zoo that originally started housing Sumateran rhino when the first captures on Sumatera took place a good 2 decades behind us. Thankfully, TSI I has in recent times had good and sustained breeding success with a partially new group of white rhinos at the facility.Not that we know of, but probably no. The entire facility seems to only be build fairly recently.
But I've read that they experiencing by interestingly learning of the management of white rhinoceros instead, since Taman Safari Indonesia, who is one of the main stakeholder here, have a very long and somewhat of a succesful record of keeping and breeding them.
Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI) on Instagram: "Memindahkan Badak Jawa Ternyata Perlu SOP, Analisis Risiko, dan Analisis Etik, loh, apa itu ya? Hai Sobat BaCuSa dan #SahabatBadak! Ada tiga hal yang harus dipersiapkan dalam proses pemindahan satwa. Apa saja itu?, Yuuu kita kepoin … SOP Pemindahan Badak Ini panduan lengkap dari A sampai Z tentang proses pemindahan badak. Mulai dari persiapan, penanganan di lapangan, transportasi, sampai pemantauan setelah tiba di lokasi baru. Semua diatur agar aman untuk badak serta tim yang bertugas.