Ujung Kulon to Hold Javan Rhino Festival

Pandeglang, Banten (Antara) - The Ujung Kulon National Park Agency (TNUK) will hold a Festival of Javan Rhinoceros in June to promote the preservation of the critically endangered one-horned species in the region. The festival will be conducted from June 17 through 22, spokesperson of TNUK Indra said on Friday. "The Government in 2010 had declared 21 June as a national's Javan Rhinoceros Day. However, the campaign was less introduced to the society that we here need to get it socialized," Indra said. The festival will be initiated by declaration ceremonies of Javan Rhinoceros Day in local junior and senior high schools. The declaration was expected to have the Javan Rhinoceros Day familiarized and to be commemorated annually in the next years. The Agency and the local administration would also hold a carnival participated in by local kindergarten and elementary school students, wearing rhino-themed costumes, in June 22 in the Pandeglang City's Square. "Through this festival, we hope the society are more aware and involved in the preservation and the rescue of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) as its population has been shrinking," Indra said. Data from the TNUK showed that only 51 Javan rhinoceros, eight of them were rhino cubs, remained in the Ujung Kulon National Park. (*)