 Reference Base  De dierenwereld van Insulinde in woord en beeld, I: De zo... |
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Balen, J.H. van, 1914. De dierenwereld van Insulinde in woord en beeld, I: De zoogdieren. Deventer, J.C. van der Burgh, pp. i-vii, i-xi, 1-505
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| Location: |
Asia - South East Asia - Indonesia - Java |
| Subject: |
Ecology - Habitat |
| Species: |
Javan Rhino |
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Mohnike remarked that 'with the size of these animals it is remarkable that they will ascend mountains from 8000 to 10.000 feet high. Their paths are found everywhere in the mountain ranges of Java. These paths are known to the natives; they are the deep and well-trodden paths which take you straight through bushes, alan-alang, glaga-fields etc., sometimes in a straight line, sometimes spiralling around the mountain. The natives often use these paths.'
According to Junghuhn, these paths are not just found on the highest mountaintops which are over 10.000 feet high, but they also follow the narrowest and steepest inclines; they follow the ridges of the volcanoes in all their corners. They look like canals with an equal width and depth, comparable to the size of the animal, with sharp edges and smooth walls, not only where the soil consists of gravels or volcanic sand, but even where it is rocky. However heavy these animals may be, it would still have required inestimable ages to form these path to such a depth.
On the hollow paths, the rhinoceros often becomes the prey of the Javanese hunter, who hides his knives in the ground. Because when the animal tries to negotiate the steep hillsides, its belly almost touches the ground and then it is easily cut open by these knives and then it is an easy prey.
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