A rare Javan rhinoceros was captured on video Monday rolling around in mud at Java Island in Indonesia, per Reuters.
Seekor badak Jawa (Rhinocerus sondaicus) yang tertangkap kamera video trap dengan durasi 2 menit 15 detik di kubangan air terjun Blok Cigenteur Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon. pic.twitter.com/C1OMvrBCxC
— Siti Nurbaya Bakar (@SitiNurbayaLHK) June 29, 2020
The video was reportedly captured by a hidden camera at Ujung Kulon’s national park and posted by the environmental minister of Indonesia, Siti Nurbaya Bakar. The rhino is one of only 72 wild Javan rhinos left in the wild across the world, per Reuters. (RELATED: REPORT: Hundreds Of Elephants Die In Botswana ‘Conservation Disaster’)
The Javan rhino used to live throughout northeast India and Southeast Asia, and is the most endangered out of all the other species, according to Reuters.
“Let’s keep watching and loving the rhino,” Bakar said in her tweet. “Looking after and loving them is the same as looking after and loving Indonesia.”
The population of the rhinos declined due to illegal poaching and demand for the rhino horns, which are used to make medicine, reports Reuters. Researchers from the World Resources Institute in Indonesia and the Forest Wildlife Society told Reuters that the government needs to increase supervision of the animals and create a second habitat for the species.
The rhino in the video was one of just 39 males of its kind left, Bakar told Reuters. Bakar also told Reuters that the rhino used the mud bath to regulate its body temperature and protect its skin from bugs and parasites.