Way Kambas National Park, Indonesia

Way Kambas is a large national park covering 130,000 hectares in southern Sumatra. The park consists of swamp forest and lowland rain forest, but was extensively logged before becoming a reserve in 1972, so there is little primary forest left. Way Kambas has long been known for being home to a significant population of Sumatran elephants, some Sumatran tigers and Malaysian tapirs, and numerous bird species. In the 1990s, surveys revealed that the park was also home to a little-known or seen population of around 40 Sumatran rhinos – one of only three surviving populations in Indonesia.

Way Kambas consists of swamp forest and lowland rain forest, but was extensively logged before becoming a reserve in 1972 so there is little primary forest. The reserve still has a few Sumatran Tigers and reasonable numbers of elephants. It is also provides excellent birdwatching, with the rare White-winged Duck among the species present.

Sumatran Rhino in the Way Kambas Sanctuary

Another special feature of this national park is the Sumatran Rhinoceros still present in the area. Only 275 remain in South East Asia today. In Way Kambas a managed breeding center or Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS) has been build up in 1995. At this moment 5 Sumatran Rhinos live at the Sanctuary, most have been translocated from zoos to the large enclosures (with natural habitat) at the SRS.

Facing intense pressure from a variety of threats, the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinos sumatrensis sumatrensis) is probably the most endangered species of rhinoceros. It is estimated that no more than 275 individuals survive, almost entirely in two range states, Indonesia and Malaysia. From 1989 to 1998, the population declined by at least 60%, and while Javan rhinos number even fewer, the combination of the extent and rate of population reduction makes the Sumatran rhino the most critically endangered of the five rhino species. The cause of the decline is almost entirely poaching for the horn through the use of traps and snares placed in the forest. In Indonesia, Sumatran rhinos survive in only three known locations (Gunung Leuser, Bukit Barisan Selatan, and Way Kambas National Park) and have been extirpated from one national park (Kerinci Seblat) within the past decade.