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Two Javan rhinoceroses and their calves have been caught on film in Ujung Kulon National Park in Banten, officials said on Monday.

The videos of the endangered species were recorded by World Wildlife Fund Indonesia staff members and park rangers between November and December last year.

A clip from the first video, recorded in November 2010, shows a mother and her male calf walking toward the camera.

Another rhino family was documented in December 2010. The 30-second video shows a calf larger than the one in the previous video walking with its mother. The calf has been identified as a one-year-old female.

The videos prove that Javan rhinos are breeding in the national park — welcome news after three Javan rhinos were found dead in the park last year.

“The videos showing these two calves are important because they provide us with substantial information about the population dynamics of Javan rhinos in Ujung Kulon National Park,” Agus Priambudi, head of the park authority, said on Monday.

Agus said the calves would help stabilize the rhino population in Ujung Kulon at around 50. There are estimated to be fewer than 100 of the critically endangered species left in the wild.

“These videos also provide us with some feedback about Javan rhino survey and monitoring systems, and we believe this information is important in ensuring the survival of the endangered species,” he said.

This month, the Ujung Kulon National Park Authority took over management of the video camera traps in the park. Between 2001 and 2010, 35 video camera traps were jointly managed by the authority and WWF Indonesia.

Adhi Hariyadi, project leader of the WWF Indonesia-Ujung Kulon Program, said these videos provided valuable information about the rhinos’ reproduction patterns over the last 10 years.

“We have already recorded the births of 14 calves, including these two, so we could say there is a significant increase every year,” he said.

“Statistically, the increase is at least 1.4 rhinos per year. In other words, it justifies hypotheses from scientists that rhinos have their own regular birth cycles.”

He added that the sighting of the female calf in one of the videos brought new hope for sustaining the rhino population.

“The documentation of a female calf is a breath of fresh air for us and for Javan rhino conservation in general, because the majority of calves previously identified were male,” Adhi said.

The conservation effort is also looking at ways to expand the animal’s habitat by selective breeding in new areas to start up new populations.

“We’re in the process of establishing a Javan rhino study and conservation area in Honje, still within Ujung Kulon, where we’ll select several rhinos fit to create a new population, without disrupting the existing population,” Adhi said.