Critically Endangered Animal Spotted on Trail Cam With Baby (!)

Last month, a critically endangered species made a welcome appearance on a trail cam in Indonesia. Even better, it was a mother and her calf. Considering there are only around 70 Javan rhinos left in the wild, this is a great sign for the species.

A news release from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry said the Javan rhinos passed by a trail cam in Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of the island of Java. Wildlife officials believe this is a new calf, adding one more rhino to the too-short list.

In the trail cam footage video posted to Facebook, the mom Javan rhino ambles by, followed by her baby. The Javan rhino calf wiggles its ears and pauses as its mom pauses. Then, the mom turns back around, changing her mind about heading that direction. The baby turns around too and trots off.

Watch two incredibly rare Javan rhinos make a trail cam appearance here:

There are five rhino species left on Earth, and the three Asian species (Sumatran, Javan, and black rhinos) are all critically endangered. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Javan rhinos only live in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia, though they used to live in northeast India and southeast Asia.

Rhinos face threats such as poaching for their ivory horns, habitat loss and destruction, and, in some cases, low genetic diversity, which makes it difficult for populations to recover.

Watch a different mother and baby Javan rhino pair in this WWF video:

Can you imagine a world without rhinos?

Source: https://outdoors.com/critically-endangered-animal-spotted-on-trail-cam-with-baby/