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Rarest rhino caught on film wallowing in mud with calf Jeremy Hance mongabay.com March 06, 2009
"These rhinos are very shy. In the last 20 years our team has only seen rhinos two or three times with their own eyes," WWF Asian rhino coordinator Christy Williams told AFP. Using 34 spy cameras with infra-red triggers, which take video every time they sense movement, the WWF team was able to attain some startling footage of these mysterious animals, including one where an adult rhino chases away a warthog. "The videos are showing a lot of young animals but not many calves so even though there is evidence of breeding it is not enough," Williams said. "A healthy rhino population should be increasing at about seven percent a year or about three or four calves, but here we are getting three or four calves every four or five years." WWF is currently planning resettling a portion of the rhino population in another suitable region in Java to help their chances of long-term survival. Currently, there are no Javan rhinos in captivity. "Action needs to be urgently taken because the rhino population has stagnated," Williams said. Footage is available on the WWF channel of YouTube. Related articles First captive black rhinos released into the wild in 25 years (10/03/2008) Fifteen critically-endangered black rhinos have been released at an undisclosed location in Kenya with hopes that this pioneer group will breed naturally, repopulating an area they once roamed abundantly. The release is the first time in 25 years that captive rhinos have been returned to the wild. Scientists capture video of rare Borneo rhino (04/24/2007) WWF has captured video footage of the rare Borneo rhino. There are only 25-50 of the rhino left in the wild on the island. Video from a camera trap shows the animal eating, walking to the camera and sniffing the equipment. It is first time the beast's behvaior in the wild has been captured on film. West African black rhino may be extinct (07/17/2006) Recent surveys conducted by IUCN in northern Cameroon found no evidence of the West African black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes). The organization fears the sub-species is now extinct in the wild. 13 rare rhinos found in Borneo survey by WWF (03/17/2006) World Wildlife Fund today released the results of a field survey from the island of Borneo which found that poaching has significantly reduced Borneo's population of Sumatran rhinos, but a small group continues to survive in the "Heart of Borneo," a region covered with vast tracts of rain forest. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
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