One-horned Javan rhino faces extinction

UJUNG KULON (JP): Illegal drug trafficking involves not only modern drugs like ecstasy, but also traditional medicine.

The precarious state of the one-horned Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus), can largely be attributed to the age-old myth that rhino horn is an aphrodisiac.

The already decimated rhino population of between 40 and 70 head, in Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, faces extinction by hunters.

Rhinos are sought after mainly for their horn, which is believed to enhance sexual gratification, but some say that all of the rhino can be used.

Scientists used to believe that a rhino was typically 170 cm tall, more than three meters long, and weighed 2,200 kgs. But a recent photographic survey indicates that the largest rhino in Ujung Kulon may be only 150 cm tall.

The exact number of rhinos in Ujung Kulon is not known despite photo-trapping and the counting of rhino tracks.

"These are the best methods that we have come up with... though we realize that there is really no precise way to identify the exact number," Agoes Sriyatna, chief of the national park admitted.

The national park was believed to be the only habitat for the Javanese rhino in the world until a smaller population was recently discovered in Vietnam.

Spreading over a vast area of 120,551 hectares, the national park comprises 76,214 hectares of land and 44,37 hectares of surrounding reefs and sea which can roughly be separated into three areas: the triangular Ujung Kulon Peninsula, the Gunung Honje Range to the east of the peninsula's isthmus, and the island of Panaitan to the north west.

Not many rhinos, however, are found in the luscious landscape, and there has been a steady decline in their numbers in the past 30 years. By the 1980s, it was estimated that there were only between 70 and 80 rhinos left.

If this trend continues we may see the total extinction of the rhino over the next 10 years.

The remaining 250 Sumatran rhinos, or Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, are being protected at the Way Kambas conservation site in Lampung province, Sumatra.

Asian countries, notably China, Korea and Japan, believe that rhino horn is a potent aphrodisiac. Its skin is believed to reduce fever.

The myth of rhino horn's aphrodisiac properties has boosted demand and prices. Some are willing to pay as much as Rp 40 million (US$17,021) for a horn -- manna from heaven for local residents, who may not earn that much in a lifetime.

In 1992, the World Wide Fund for Nature conducted research which refuted this myth. The findings revealed that rhino horn is very similar to bull or buffalo horn, and has no medicinal properties whatsoever.

TRAFFIC, an international watchdog network which oversees trading of protected plant and animal species has recently discovered that the trade of Eastern traditional medicine made of rhino's horn is on the rise.

Between 1988 and 1992, for example, TRAFFIC found at least 100,000 products derived from rhino horns were being traded.

By the end of 1993, the South Koreans were said to consume some 300 kilos of rhino horn a year -- which spells the end for 100 African rhinos.

China and Taiwan, however, have succumbed to international pressure by banning the sale and use of rhino horn.

Taiwan took a step further, ordering owners to register their horns, though no sanctions were imposed on those who failed to register.

In Indonesia, the government has been criticized for dragging its heels in the enforcement of environmental law. Minister for the Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, however, has said that all talk about preserving the environment is pointless unless economic reforms are carried out to improve standards of living. Exasperated by the destruction of the environment, he underlined the importance of the improvement of people's welfare, saying this would eliminate the temptation that people face to exploit the environment.

"These people, who we often blame for their misdemeanors, often don't have lofty ideas of preserving the environment for future generations. What's pressing in their mind is how to provide their family with a bowl of rice and education," he said.

Efforts to protect the environment are often frustrated if the local population is not involved in the process.

Environmental experts have suggested to apply a "sharing of benefit" concept, providing local communities with economic incentives for preserving the environment. This may give their conscience a useful helping hand. (14)