50 Javan Rhinos Remain - Keepers Prepare To Split Group - AP

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JAKARTA (AFP) - The Javan rhinoceros is the rarest mammal in the world: just 50 of the one-horned beasts remain alive, almost all in a single Indonesian jungle. Now, to save them, scientists are preparing to divide them. Dozens of ecological experts met last week in Jakarta to agree on the old adage that you should not lay all your eggs in one basket.

Besides five of the one-horned beasts located in Vietnam, all of the surviving Javan rhinoceros roam in the Ujung Kulon park at the far western end of the densely-populated island and on the fringes of the Sunda Strait. This reserve is better protected than other disappearing Indonesian forests, but experts still fear that a local event could wipe out the species: an epidemic, a massive raid by poachers or a natural catastrophe -- the park was affected by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa nearby -- could all lead to disaster.

"Imagine if the tsunami had come through Ujung Kulon!" exclaimed Christy Williams, program coordinator for the WWF's Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy, adding that protection alone was not enough to ensure their survival. "It's necessary to create other pockets" of safety for the animals, he said.

The magnificent Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) was once found across a huge swathe of Asia, from the north of India, through Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, peninsular Malaysia and into Indonesia. The species gradually grew rarer as its natural habitat was gnawed away by development.

EDIT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060314/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironmentanimals_060314134822