Video of critically-endangered rhino taking mud-bath gets 1M Twitter views
A video of a critically-endangered Javan rhinoceros enjoying a mud-bath on the tropical waters of a national park in Indonesia’s Java island has been doing the rounds on social media. It was one of the 62 Javan rhinos left in the wild, according to the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB).
The video, posted on the microblogging site by the country’s Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar, has received over one million views in the last four days. She said the Javan rhino (Rhinocerus sondaicus) was captured at a waterfall in the Cigenteur Block of Ujung Kulon National Park.
Seekor badak Jawa (Rhinocerus sondaicus) yang tertangkap kamera video trap dengan durasi 2 menit 15 detik di kubangan air terjun Blok Cigenteur Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon. pic.twitter.com/C1OMvrBCxC
— Siti Nurbaya Bakar (@SitiNurbayaLHK) June 29, 2020
The video was captured by a hidden camera at the national park. The video has also been retweeted by more than 13,000 people and like by over 37,000. It shows the male rhino that is estimated to be about seven years old rolling on his back in the muddy waters at the waterfall.
Javan rhinoceros is the rarest large mammal on Earth. The only remaining animals of the species are currently living as part of a small population isolated in a single protected area in the national park. Tsunamis are a significant risk to the species in the Ujung Kulon park, said SCB, in a report published in April 2017.
Javan rhinos are one of the three species of rhinoceros that have been listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The other two species are Sumatran rhinos (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) and Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis).
