Human hunting has been the biggest threat the population of the rare species one-horned Javan rhinoceros into extinction, a government official said Monday.

Javan rhinos?[File photo]

"For rhinos, the main threat is humans, besides natural disturbances and disease," Novianto Bambang, director of conservation and biodiversity at the Forestry Ministry said. "Humans are very strange, in my opinion, because they are interested in the rhino for its horn. There are many who believe rhino horn has properties that can increase virility. The problem is, to get the horn, like it or not, they have to kill the rhino," he added.

According to him, there were only 35 Javan rhinos remaining at the Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java.

Novianto said that that the ministry planned to declare 2012 the International Year of the Rhino to draw attention to the creature's plight. The announcement is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. "The second problem is, of course, human encroachment into the rhinos' already limited habitat. It is becoming increasingly harder for rhinos to find food in their own habitats," he was quoted by the Jakarta globe as saying.

One of only 11 nations where rhinos are found, including Malaysia, India and South Africa, Indonesia is lucky to have two kinds of rhinos: The one-horned Javan rhino and the two-horned Sumatran rhino, of which only 200 remain in the wild. "Indonesia has two species of rhino that are still in some of the biggest numbers in the world. In Vietnam, the rhino is already extinct. We mustn't let that happen here," Novianto said.