Critically Endangered
There are only 74 of these left in the wild, which means there are only 74 left in the world because there are none in captivity. In 2010 the last one in Vietnam was found dead with its horn cut off. All 74 surviving ones live in one national park in Vietnam. Thankfully, there has been no poaching there in the last 20 years. Unfortunately, since it is one smallish area if disease or a natural disaster struck, the whole species could be wiped out. There is hope that eventually a second habitat will be found which would give them a better chance to continue as a species even if there is some catastrophic event. Back in October, 2 calves were spotted. Their population has been increasing every year since 2012, but just going up by one each year. The Javan is also known as the lesser one-horned rhinoceros because of rather obvious reasons. The males' horns are the smallest of all rhino species, and females don't even have a horn.
I reached out to a wildlife photographer I greatly admire. I was surprised to hear back, even though it was someone replying for the photographer (they are off creating magic as usual). I wanted to paint an animal they would like to photograph but can't either due to it having gone extinct or because of restrictions that make it impossible. The person who responded said that without a doubt it would be this rhinoceros. I hope that the photographer smiles when they see the painting. I firmly believe we should always do what we can to make the world a better place, even if it is just for one person. I can't get the photographer to a Javan Rhinoceros to photograph it, but at least I can create some art of this fantastic animal. If they say I can mention the name, or even say what the photographer says about the painting, I will update this blog post. No matter what, I'm just tickled pink to have heard back and to have been given a request. Probably similar to some people's reaction to a sports hero throwing a ball to them.
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