This rhino is found in extremely lush lowland rainforests, though it will live at higher altitudes if driven there by humans. However, the Vietnamese population is probably extinct or soon because there are no adult males in the population to allow breeding. The Javan rhinoceros is found in Java and possibly in Vietnam. Male rhinos mark their territories with dung piles and by mauling vegetation.įemale rhinos are ready to have their first calf at four years and are likely to reproduce every five or six years thereafter.
Javan rhinos tend to be solitary, though they do not seem hostile to others of their species and may sometimes casually associate in small groups at salt licks or favorite wallows. The Javan rhino lives most frequently in tall, thick grass or beds of reeds within lowland jungle and rainforest. They are very shy and retiring, and any human activity is enough to make them flee into the most inaccessible area available. They need regular access to salt licks and will drink ocean water to get salt if necessary. When the cooler evening comes, these rhinoceroses begin to forage, eating leaves, shoots, twigs, and any fruit they can find. Food harvesting is accomplished with a prehensile upper lip.ĭuring the heat of the day, the Javan rhino lies in mud wallows to stay cool or bathes in water. When the rhino is forced to fight, it slashes with its lower incisors rather than attempting to use its horn. Instead, it appears to be used as a specialized tool for hooking high-growing plants to bring them down to a level where the rhino can eat them or push through dense vegetation. The animal’s single horn is too short to be used as a weapon, at only 20 centimeters or less. This species of rhinoceros weighs 900 to 2,300 kilograms, stands 1.5 to 1.7 meters tall, and measures between 2 and 4 meters long.
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