The rarest large mammal on Earth
My illustration for Animal Alphabets, letter #J - Javan Rhino
The Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros Sondaicus) is a small Asian rhinoceros that historically inhabited the rain forests and grasslands of Southeast Asia, the islands of Java and Sumatra, China and India. Now it can be considered the rarest large mammal on Earth since only one population counting fewer than 100 Javan Rhinos survive in the wild. The decimation of the species is mostly due to poaching for the collection of horns and trophy hunting. The horns are highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine and they are belived antidotes for snake venom by some tribes in Vietnam. The habitat loss is another cause of the population decline and especially the extensive use of napalm, defoliation from Agent Orange and aerial bombing during the Vietnam war almost cause the extinction of the last mainland Asian population in the 1970s. However, the last individuals in Vietnam survived in Cat Tien National Park until 2010, when the last Javan Rhino was found shot and horn chopped. The species is now considered extinct in Vietnam and the unique population of wild is found Javan Rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia. The Ujung Kulon peninsula is located at the western tip of Java. After the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, the peninsula was abandoned by people, but soon recolonised by wildlife. Javan rhinoceros found a refuge in Ujung Kulon, which became a national park and and then href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/608UNESCO "> UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. The species is critically endangered and, even in the protected area, the remaining individuals are still at risk from disease and loss of genetic diversity.
In my illustration little rhino is looking for mates to play basketball.