Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
Humans, now
On the wall: 1,000 or fewer left in the wild
Javan rhino
Two figures that disagree
at least50
At least this many
2024
Rhinoceros sondaicus
Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia
Counted 2024, by the IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, from Indonesian data (released 2025).
The other figure: 87 to 100 (estimate, with range, September 2025).
The Javan rhino's headline number is at least 50, a minimum of rhinos known alive and not a total, counted in 2024 by the IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, from Indonesian data.
At least 50 Javan rhinos by 2024, after poaching, say the IUCN rhino specialists; Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry gives 87 to 100.
How it was counted
The figure, reported from Indonesian data, counts animals known alive across the whole wild population, all of it in Ujung Kulon National Park; it is a minimum with no range, not an estimate of the total. The other official figure, 87 to 100 from Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry, is an estimate with a range for the same park, a different kind of number, so the figures sit side by side and are never joined.
This is a minimum: at least 50 rhinos were known alive in 2024, and the figure is not an estimate of the total.
Earlier figures
- 76 in 2021: the previous count. Source: IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, report to CITES CoP20 (Doc. 84 Annex 3), from Indonesian data.
What moves it
The IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC reports that poaching groups killed rhinos from among the 76 counted in 2021: "Most of the rhinos killed were males, targeted for their visible horns." It also names the loss of breeding males, low birth rates, worsening habitat and the spread of invasive palms. Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry names low genetic diversity, inbreeding and too little habitat, and cites studies warning these could end the species without serious action.
- poaching for horn, 2019 to 2023.
26 of the 76 rhinos counted had been killed by two poaching groups between 2019 and 2023
Source: IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, report to CITES CoP20 (Doc. 84 Annex 3), from Indonesian data. - loss of breeding males.
Most of the rhinos killed were males, targeted for their visible horns.
Source: IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, report to CITES CoP20 (Doc. 84 Annex 3), from Indonesian data. - low birth rates, habitat degradation and invasive palms.
low birth rates, habitat degradation, and the spread of invasive palm species
Source: IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, report to CITES CoP20 (Doc. 84 Annex 3), from Indonesian data. - low genetic diversity, inbreeding and too little habitat, which scientific studies cited by the Ministry of Forestry warn could end the species within 50 years without serious action. Source: Kementerian Kehutanan (Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia).
Who is helping
Indonesian police investigations led to the arrest and conviction of the poachers, who received prison sentences (reported by the IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC).
The next count
No date for the next count is known as of 12 November 2026. The schedule is irregular (reported to each CITES CoP; the park also reports camera-trap counts).
Sources
- IUCN SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group with TRAFFIC, report to CITES CoP20 (Doc. 84 Annex 3), from Indonesian data Last checked 12 November 2026.
- Kementerian Kehutanan (Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia), press release SP.209/HUMAS/PP/HMS.3/9/2025, World Rhino Day, 22 September 2025 Last checked 12 November 2026.
- Kementerian Kehutanan (Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia) Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): At least 50 (At least this many, 2024).
Next on the wall
The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.