00:00These cameras are no longer just set up to track rhinos.
00:06The rangers in the Ujung Kolo National Park on the island of Java are on high alert.
00:12They are searching for poachers who may have killed up to a third of the surviving Javan
00:17rhino population here, the only place in the world still home to the species.
00:24I was shocked.
00:25It's so cruel of the people living near the national park to hunt rhinos for their
00:29personal interests.
00:31We didn't expect this.
00:32In the past, others who hunted illegally in the forest avoided these animals.
00:41Last year, the rangers discovered the first signs that poaching could be taking place
00:45in the remote park.
00:47Then they found the remains of dead rhinos after Indonesian police arrested a whole gang
00:52of poachers.
00:54They have reportedly killed 26 rhinos since 2019.
00:59The poachers were after the rhino horns, which fetch huge sums on the black market in China.
01:06There are actually two groups in this rhino hunting syndicate.
01:14One group we have caught and traced back to the broker.
01:19The other group we are still in the process of dismantling.
01:29A collector who had bought rhino horns from the gang for 30,000 euros was also arrested.
01:36The gang knew exactly where to find the animals, which is why the authorities are now more
01:41cautious.
01:42We don't want to repeat our previous mistakes.
01:47I will not mention the number of CCTV cameras in the park and the places where rhinos have
01:53been spotted.
01:54I am even considering asking Google Earth to blur the entire park area because it is
01:59so detailed.
02:05No one knows exactly how many Javan rhinos are left here.
02:10Even before the poaching was discovered, doubts were raised over the government's estimates
02:14of the wild population.
02:17The plan is now to lure some of the remaining 50 or so animals into this protected zone
02:22for mating.
02:26It's not enough to maintain the current population.
02:29This would mean that the Javan rhino would die out on its own in around 50 years.
02:36There are several reasons for this.
02:37They like to live alone and after giving birth it can take up to five years before they're
02:42fertile again.
02:50Helping the rhinos to reproduce is a long-term and ambitious plan.
02:54In the short term, the national park has tightened security and started using thermal drones to
02:59search for poachers.
03:01The drones will help cover 120,000 hectares, the vast tropical area and the last home of
03:08the Javan rhino.
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