Baluran National Park is located in

Situbondo Regency Situbondo Regency is a regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,638.50 km2, and had a population of 647,619 at the 2010 Census and 685,967 at the 2020 Census. It is located in east end of Java before ...

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. It has a relatively dry climate and mainly consists of savanna (40%), as well as lowland forests, mangrove forests and hills, with Mount Baluran (1,247m) as its highest peak.Indra Harsaputra,
Baluran: the little Africa of Java'
''The Jakarta Post'', 20 July 2013. Baluran National Park is situated at the north-eastern extremity of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, close to the islands of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

and

Madura Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrati ...

. The park is bordered by the Madura Strait to the north, the Bali Strait to the east, the river Bajulmati (Wonorejo village) to the west and the river Klokoran (Sumberanyar village) to the south. The park is a rough circle, with the extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

, Baluran, at its centre. Its total area is 25,000 ha.Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia
Baluran National Park
retrieved 20 December 2013 It consists of five zones: the Main Zone (12,000 ha), the Wilderness Zone (5,537 ha, comprising 1,063 ha water and 4,574 ha land), the Intensive Utilization Zone (800 ha), the Specific Utilization Zone (5,780 ha) and the Rehabilitation Zone (783 ha).

Flora and fauna

There have been 444 plant species recorded in the park, including some endangered plant species such as: '' Ziziphus rotundifolia'', '' Tamarindus indica'', '' Dioscorea hispida'', ''

Aleurites moluccanus ''Aleurites moluccanus'', the candlenut, is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, also known as candleberry, Indian walnut, ''kemiri'', varnish tree, ''nuez de la India'', ''buah keras'', ''godou'', kukui nut tree, and ''rata k ...

'' and ''

Corypha utan ''Corypha utan'', the cabbage palm, buri palm or gebang palm, is a species of palm native to Asia and Oceania. Description It grows up to tall, and, on the York Peninsula of Queensland, up to 1.5 meters (4' 11") thick (exceeded only by Boras ...

''. Baluran National Park hosts 26

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

species, including the endangered

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their domesticated counterparts, but are otherw ...

Sumatran dhole The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

Indian muntjac The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...

Java mouse-deer The Java mouse-deer (''Tragulus javanicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. When it reaches maturity it is about the size of a rabbit, making it the smallest living ungulate. It is found in forests in Java and perha ...

fishing cat The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declin ...

Javan leopard The Javan leopard (''Panthera pardus melas'') is a leopard subspecies confined to the Indonesian island of Java. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2021. The population is estimated at 188–571 mature individuals in 22 f ...

and

Javan lutung The East Javan langur (''Trachypithecus auratus''), also known as the ebony lutung, Javan langur or Javan lutung, is an Old World monkey from the Colobinae subfamily. It is most commonly glossy black with a brownish tinge to its legs, sides, and ...

. The banteng population decreased from 338 in 1996 to just 26 in 2012. Avifauna in the park include the

green peafowl The green peafowl or Indonesian peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2009 because the global population has been declining ...

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus'') is a tropical bird in the family Phasianidae. It ranges across much of Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. It was formerly known as the Bankiva or Bankiva Fowl. It is the species that gave rise to the ...

, Malabar pied hornbill,

rhinoceros hornbill The rhinoceros hornbill (''Buceros rhinoceros'') is a large species of forest hornbill (Bucerotidae). In captivity it can live for up to 35 years. It is found in lowland and montane, tropical and subtropical climates and in mountain rain forests ...

and

lesser adjutant The lesser adjutant (''Leptoptilos javanicus'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Like other members of its genus, it has a bare neck and head. It is however more closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary ...

. Until 2010 there had been 155 species of bird recorded in the park, but following a bird photography competition in 2012, the number of species was revised to 196.

Extinct

Javan tiger The Javan tiger was a ''Panthera tigris sondaica'' population native to the Indonesian island of Java until the mid-1970s. It was hunted to extinction, and its natural habitat converted for agricultural land use and infrastructure. It was one of ...

s survived in the protected area until the mid-1960s.

Conservation and threats

The area has been protected since 1928, first initiated by the Dutch hunter A.H. Loedeboer. In 1937 it was declared a wildlife refuge by the Dutch colonial government.Indra Harsaputra
"Baluran Banteng herd dying out"
''The Jakarta Post'', 10 January 2013. In 1980 the area was declared a national park. Poaching poses a major threat to the wildlife in the park, especially to the decreasing banteng population. According to ProFauna Indonesia, not only locals but also members of the military have been involved in poaching. The thorny acacia, which occupied at least 6,000 hectares of savannah at the Baluran National Park, has made it increasingly difficult for bantengs to find food. In 2013, there were only 35 bantengs, while in 1996 there were still 320 bantengs.

Gallery

File:Gunung Baluran2.jpg, Mount Baluran File:Savana Bekol, Baluran.jpeg, Savana Bekol

References

External links