Rare Javan Rhino enjoys a mud bath in Indonesia [video]

A video of the critically endangered Javan Rhino, one of only 72 left in the wild, was recently posted on Twitter by Indonesia’s environment minister, Siti Nurbaya Bakar. The video offers a rare glimpse into the life of one of the world’s largest land mammals, according to Reuters.

Rare footage

The footage, captured by a hidden camera at Ujung Kulon’s national park has been shared more than 12 000 times and shows the rhino, a male estimated to be seven years old, rolling around on his back in the muddy waters at the base of a waterfall.

About the Javan Rhino

The minister said that a rhino mud bath helps to regulate their body temperature and protect their skin from parasites and insects. Javan Rhinos, which once lived throughout northeast India and Southeast Asia, are among the most threatened of the five rhino species. There are only 72 Javan rhinos left in the wild, including 39 males and 33 females, according to Bakar.

“Let’s keep watching and loving the rhino,” Bakar wrote in her viral Twitter post, “Looking after and loving them is the same as looking after and loving Indonesia.”

Conservationists and researchers from the World Resources Institute in Indonesia and the Forest Wildlife Society told Reuters the government should increase monitoring of Ujung Kulon National park, and reinvigorate efforts to develop a second habitat for the critically endangered species. The population of the herbivorous mammals has declined mainly due to illegal poaching and excessive demand for rhino horn and medicine, which fetch high prices on the black market.

Watch: Javan rhino takes a mud bath

Meanwhile in South Africa…

The Thula Thula Exclusive Private Game Reserve situated in the heart of Zululand, in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, recently shared a video of a baby rhino taking a mud bath.

The rhino calf named Busiswe (Sissi), which means ‘blessing’ in Zulu was born when her mother Mona gave birth just before South Africa’s lockdown. The birth of this rhino was the first time in over a century that a rhino calf has been born on the private game reserve.

“Highly protected by her mother, we had very few sightings so far. Mona is gaining more confidence and trust that she lives in a safe environment as we see her more and more in open grassland. Mona, Sissi, Thabo and Ntombi are monitored 24/7 by our anti-poaching team,” the game reserve said at the time. “A true blessing, the first rhino baby born on former Zulu Royal Land in over a century and a blessing during this critical time.”