Krakatau Mountain Volcanic

Krakatoa or Krakatau or Krakatao is a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia.












The name is used for the island group, the main island (also called Rakata), and the volcano as a whole. It has erupted repeatedly, massively, and with disastrous consequences throughout recorded history.








The best known eruption culminated in a series of massive explosions on August 26-27 1883, which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern times. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6, it was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT — about 13,000 times the yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16 KT), which devastated Hiroshima, Japan.








The 1883 eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice, near and generated the loudest sound historically reported: the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930 miles (3,110 km), and the island of Rodrigues Mauritius approx. 3,000 miles (5,000 km).







Near Krakatoa, according to official records, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, at least 36,417 (official toll) people died, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis which followed the explosion.








The eruption destroyed two thirds of the island of Krakatoa. Eruptions at the volcano since 1927 have built a new island in the same location, called Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatoa).

Ujung Kulon National Park

Scientists have found evidence of four new Javan rhino calves in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park.










The calves were discovered by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) conservation group in August.
According to the WWF, these are the first known births of Javan rhinos in over three years.









"Javan rhinos are probably the rarest large mammal species in the world and they are on the very brink of extinction," said Arman Malolongan, director general of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation at Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry.
"To discover that this population is breeding, and even slowly growing, gives us hope for the species' future."











Javan rhinos are the rarest of the world's five rhino species and are categorised as critically endangered in the IUCN red List of Threatened Species.
It is estimated that between 28 and 56 Javan rhinos live in Ujung Kulon.
The only other known population is in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam, where no more than eight rhinos are thought to survive.









The WWF team found the first sign of a calf a few weeks ago, with the discovery of a small footprint (about 16-17 cm) along with a larger footprint belonging to the mother.
One day later, two sets of mother and calf footprints of slightly different size were discovered in different areas.
And the following day, the team found a fourth small footprint in another location.









Because of the distance between the four areas where the discoveries were made and the differences in the size of the footprints, the WWF said there was evidence of four different calves.
"Javan rhinos live deep inside the rainforest and it's very unusual to catch a glimpse of them," said Adhi Rahmat Hariyadi, WWF-Indonesia site manager in Ujung Kulon National Park.
"Our team was lucky to actually be able to observe a mother and calf in the Ujung Kulon Peninsula while checking camera traps installed in the area."