Ujung Kulon National Park

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Geography

The park encompasses an area of 1,206 km² (443 km² marine), most of which lies on a peninsula reaching into the Indian Ocean. The explosion of nearby Krakatau in 1883 produced a tsunami (giant wave) that eliminated the villages and crops of the coastal areas on the western peninsula, and covered the entire area in a layer of ash averaging 30 cm thick. This caused the total evacuation of the peninsula by humans, thereby allowing it to become a repository for much of Java’s flora and fauna, and most of the remaining lowland forest on the island.

Ecology

It is Indonesia's first proposed national park and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 for containing the largest remaining lowland rainforest in Java. After the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, many settlements in the park were wiped out and never repopulated.
Ujung Kulon is the last refuge of the critically endangered Javan Rhinoceros after poachers killed in 2011 the last remaining rhino in Cat Tien National Park of Vietnam, where a small population of 10 or less remained. In Ujung Kulon the population has been estimated at 40-60 in the 1980s. Within 2001-2010 there have been 14 rhino births identified using camera and video traps. Based on recordings taken between February and October 2011, 35 rhinoceros have been identified, of which 22 were males and 13 females. Of these 7 were old, 18 adults, 5 youngsters, and 5 infant rhinos.
The park protects 57 rare species of plant. The 35 species of mammal include Banteng, Silvery Gibbon, Javan Lutung, Crab-eating Macaque, Leopard, Java Mouse-deer and Rusa Deer. There are also 72 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 240 species of birds.
The status of crocodiles within the park is largely unknown- sightings are rare, but do occasionally occur. There are reports of the false gharial within the park, but these are not confirmed. In addition, the saltwater crocodile was historically present throughout Java's coastal river systems but is currently extinct within these regions. Small, isolated populations of the saltwater crocodile are reported to exist within Ujung Kulon but confirmation is needed.