A 24-YEAR-OLD zoo keeper from Pembroke has travelled to Indonesia on a rhino expedition in a bid to improve his knowledge on conservation and research of the critically endangered Javan and Sumatran rhinos.

Jack Gradidge, a rhino keeper at Folly Farm, is responsible for two eastern blacj rhinos, Manyara and Nkosi, at its latest enclosure Kifaru Reserve.

Self-funding his trip, Jack travelled to Singapore and two Indonesian islands Java and Sumatra with keepers from the Aspinal Foundation in a bid to learn as much as they could about the Asian rhinos and hopefully catch a glimpse of one in a wild.

“I have a great relationship with the rhino keepers at the Aspinal Foundation and they were going to the International Elephant and Rhino Conservation and Research Symposium hosted by Singapore Zoo and I decided to join them and planned to visit a few national parks,” said Jack, who joined Folly Farm in 2014.

“We organised a four day expedition in Java where we spent most of time with local rangers chatting all things rhino and exchanging stories about the ones we care for back home.

“There is said to be only 63 Javan rhinos left in the wild. The rangers have identified all 63 rhinos at the Ujung Kulon National Park using camera traps and each now has a name. This is the only place Javan rhinos exist in the world.

“We patrolled the parks and spent time tracking the wild animals, looking at their footprints, mud wallows and trail of poo. We were on a canoe travelling down a river and we actually heard a rhino crashing through the forest, they were just metres away.”

“We then travelled up to Sumatra where there are just 100 Sumatran rhinos left in the wild and their population is fragmented which means they can’t reach each other to breed. We visited a semi-wild reserve in the Way Kambas National Park, where we got to meet four of the seven rhinos including a small calf, Delilah - just six months old.

“This was great, as we’re expecting a breeding female to join the two rhinos at Folly Farm next year and hope to hear the pitter-patter of tiny rhino feet in the future.”

Folly Farm raises funds for the Rhino Dog Squad appeal by Save the Rhino at Kifaru Reserve.