Indonesia tsunami raises fears for endangered Javan rhino

December 28, 2018 

The latest killer tsunami in Indonesia has put pressure on conservationists to ramp up a longstanding plan to find a suitable secondary habitat for the Javan rhino

Indonesia's tsunami has raised fears that another deadly wave could wipe out the few dozen Javan rhinos still living in the wild, conservation authorities said Friday.

There are believed to be fewer than 70 of the critically endangered species in a national park not far from a rumbling volcano that triggered Saturday's killer wave.

None of the animals are believed to have been killed in the disaster—which left more than 400 people dead—but officials are warning that another deadly wave could slam into the stricken region.

That is putting pressure on conservationists at Ujung Kulon National Park, on the western tip of Indonesia's main island of Java, to ramp up a longstanding plan to find a suitable secondary habitat for the rhinos.

"It's become our duty to work harder to find a second habitat because the danger is real," national park chief Mamat Rahmat told AFP.

"We're lucky that the tsunami did not affect the Javan rhinos this time. But the threat is there and we need to act accordingly."

Widodo Ramono, head of the Rhino Conservation Foundation of Indonesia, added: "If you've only got one habitat and there's another tsunami, the rhinos could be wiped out completely."

Plans to find a second home for the species have been in the works for about eight years, with conservationists surveying areas all over Java and neighbouring Sumatra but so far without success, he said.

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