National Park in Ujung Kulon of Banten Province will have a rhino breeding center in the near future, local media reported?in Jakarta?Saturday.

The center would be built by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and its Indonesian counterpart.

"IRF has stated its readiness to fund the project which is to be implemented in collaboration with the Indonesian Rhino Foundation (YABI)," the park's chief Agus Priambudi was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

The center, which will stand on a 4,000-hectare plot of land, will also serve as a wildlife park, he added.

He said the Javanese rhinoceros (rhinoceros sondaicus) population in the Ujung Kulon National Park stood at 50, most of them are studs.

The animal has a maximum life span of 40 years.

Agus said the park authority in cooperation with other parties, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), had been conducting periodic head counts on the rhino population.