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WWF marches for rhinos during car-free day
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia held the Rhino Long March in car-free day areas in Jakarta on Sunday to commemorate World Rhino Day which falls every Sept
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T
he World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia held the Rhino Long March in car-free day areas in Jakarta on Sunday to commemorate World Rhino Day which falls every Sept. 22.
The march, which started from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and ended at TransJakarta Tosari station, was aimed at garnering public support for efforts to protect the world's rhinos, particularly those in Indonesia.
Currently, only five species of rhinos survive in the world, two of which are in Indonesia: the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and Sumatran rhino (Dicherorinus sumatrensis).
Both two are categorized as critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
The Javan rhino teeters on the verge of extinction, with the population living in natural habitat ' which is Ujung Kulon National Park in Banten ' numbering only about 50.
Meanwhile, there are only around 200 Sumatran rhinos living in the wild, all of which are in Mount Leuser National Park in Aceh and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and Way Kambas in Lampung.
'Currently, there is an urgent need to protect the rhino habitats in Sumatra and to immediately determine a second habitat for Javan rhinos that is appropriate and safe,' said Anwar Purwoto, the WWF-Indonesia's director of forestry, terrestrial and freshwater species program, in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He said these two pressing tasks required government cooperation with stakeholders, including experts, environmental organizations and civil society.
'We also hope people can actively promote efforts to prevent wildlife poaching and trading, in particular the illegal trade in rhino horns,' said Anwar. (ebf)
