Malaysia's Last Javan Rhino Fell in Perak
Once upon a time, many rhinos roamed across the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia, and specifically, their habitats were throughout the African savannas as well as most of Asia's tropical forests.
However, today, only a few rhinos live outside of national parks or forest reserves in most countries. The Lesser One-Horned Rhino, or better known globally as the Javan Rhino, was declared extinct in Vietnam in 2011. A small group of these Javan Rhinos still exists to maintain the survival of their species on the Indonesian island of Java. There have been many conservation efforts carried out by certain parties to help this third rhino species in Asia increase its existing population.
The conservation status of the Javan Rhino has been changed from Endangered to Vulnerable because this species is still being hunted to this day for its horn.
Javan Rhino Status
The Javan Rhino's horn is said to be very useful in traditional medicine. When associated with its use in traditional medicine to treat human ailments, and because it is difficult to obtain, the Javan Rhino's horn is highly valuable, with prices reportedly reaching over RM120,000 per kilogram. It is human nature to want to recover from illness and to make a lot of money easily, so these Javan Rhino horns are hunted illegally and sold on the black market.
Javan Rhino shot dead by hunters in Malaya
As previously mentioned to you, the loyal readers of orangperak.com, regarding the habitat of the Javan Rhino, this group specifically prefers to live in somewhat damp areas. The location of their favorite habitat is actually a location suitable for human development activities.
It is true, as many have stated, that the real cause of the Javan Rhino's extinction in Malaysia was illegal hunters seeking their horns, but human development factors are also actually the biggest contributors to this problem.
Javan Rhino habitat location
Perak was a favorite habitat for the Javan Rhino at one time because most areas in Hulu Perak still possessed the characteristics of the Javan Rhino's preferred habitat. For your information, Royal Belum, which has now been gazetted as a permanent forest reserve, was one of the preferred locations for the Javan Rhino to use as their comfortable habitat, far from human development.
The head of the last Javan Rhino shot dead in Perak
To complete the facts for this article and for the knowledge of all you loyal readers of orangperak.com, the last Javan Rhino ever seen alive on our Malaysian soil was shot dead in 1932 by Arthur Stannard Vernay (
a British antique dealer and hunter
) in the Kroh Forest (now known as Pengkalan Hulu) to be sold to a British museum. The head and skeleton of the Javan Rhino are now kept at the Natural History Museum in London to be displayed to visiting guests.
Arthur Stannard Vernay (left)
However, there is an unofficial record noted by an individual named Milton in 1963 stating that the last Javan Rhino was shot dead in the Ulu Bernam area, Selangor in 1937. However, there is no solid evidence to support this claim other than his own notes.
reference and adapted from the sources above
