After WW II a group of poachers planned an operation to wipe out all of Ujung Kulon';s rhinos. When they entered the peninsula, one was killed by a tiger. Since none of the nearby villagers would help them against the tigers, the poachers gave up.
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One bona-fide hunter shot nine rhinos around 1900. In 1930-1970, more than 40 were poached.
Ujung Kulon, Java. The rhino feed primarily on the shoots of a variety of young trees. To reach their forage, they frequently walk over the saplings, forcing them down between their front legs. One observer saw them knee-deep in the sea and believed they ate drifting mangroves.
1985, Malaysia, $50 / gram on street
may take 16 months
Ujung Kulon, Java. The rhino feed primarily on the shoots of a variety of young trees. To reach their forage, they frequently walk over the saplings, forcing them down between their front legs. One observer saw them knee-deep in the sea and believed they ate drifting mangroves.
Height at shoulder 5 feet tall
Weight 3500 pounds
Length of horn. Male about 10 inches, often absent or a small bulge in the female
In Indonesia it is prized as a cure for high fever and typhus, and as an anti-poison agent. Asian horn is favoured over African because its smaller size is believed to concentrate medicinal properties.
Java. Females probably mature sexually by 3 years, males about twice that.
Frightful roaring and aggressive behaviour by bulls may be associated with the rut, which apparently occurs nonseasonally and sporadically.
