JAKARTA: Indonesia's tsunami has raised fears that another deadly wave could wipe out the few dozen Javan rhinos still living in the wild, conservation authorities said Friday.
There are believed to be fewer than 70 of the critically endangered species in a national park not far from a rumbling volcano that triggered Saturday's killer wave.
None of the animals are believed to have been killed in the disaster -- which left more than 400 people dead -- but officials are warning that another deadly wave could slam into the stricken region.
That is putting pressure on conservationists at Ujung Kulon National Park, on the western tip of Indonesia's main island of Java, to ramp up a longstanding plan to find a suitable secondary habitat for the rhinos.
"It's become our duty to work harder to find a second habitat because the danger is real," national park chief Mamat Rahmat told AFP.
"We're lucky that the tsunami did not affect the Javan rhinos this time. But the threat is there and we need to act accordingly."
Widodo Ramono, head of the Rhino Conservation Foundation of Indonesia, added: "If you've only got one habitat and there's another tsunami, the rhinos could be wiped out completely."
Plans to find a second home for the species have been in the works for about eight years, with conservationists surveying areas all over Java and neighbouring Sumatra but so far without success, he said.
The size of the habitat, climate, food and water sources and safety from poachers are among the key criteria, Rahmat said.
"There are still a lot of issues to be worked out," he added.
The rhinos' current sanctuary in the park comprises some 5,100 hectares (12,600 acres) of lush rainforest and freshwater streams.
Several years ago, three calves were filmed in the national park, raising hopes for the future of the world's rarest rhino after years of population decline.
The shy creature, whose folds of loose skin give it the appearance of wearing armour plating, once numbered in the thousands and roamed across Southeast Asia.
But, like other rhino species across the world, poaching and human encroachment on its habitat has led to a dramatic population decline.
Poaching in particular represents a severe threat, with rhino horns used in traditional Asian medicine fetching ever higher prices on the black market despite a lack of scientific evidence showing the horn has any medicinal value.
Indonesia tsunami raises fears for endangered Javan rhino
Indonesia tsunami raises fears for endangered Javan rhino
- There are believed to be fewer than 70 of the critically endangered species in a national park not far from a rumbling volcano that triggered Saturday's killer wave
- None of the animals are believed to have been killed in the disaster, but officials warned of another deadly wave
Nigerian villagers are rattled by US airstrikes that made their homes shake and the sky glow red
- The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
JABO: Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the Nigerian village of Jabo, was preparing for bed on Thursday night when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a plane crashing. He rushed outside his mud house with his wife to see the sky glowing a bright red.
The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”
He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a USattack on an alleged camp of the militant Daesh group.
US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Daesh militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village
Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” Daesh fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants.
Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers.
They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread — though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.
Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit.
“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP.
“The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’
The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected.
However, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.
“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.
Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information.
Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed.
Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria
Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.
The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel.
However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and Daesh are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province — a Daesh affiliate in Nigeria — has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram.
“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said.
Still, some local people feel vulnerable.
Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt.
The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage.
“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”
