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."