Baluran National Park is located in Situbondo Regency, East Java, Indonesia. It has a dry climate and includes savanna (40%), lowland forests, mangrove forests, and hills. Mount Baluran, which is 1,247 meters tall, is the park’s highest peak.

Baluran National Park is found at the northeastern end of Java, near the islands of Bali and Madura. The park is bordered by the Madura Strait to the north, the Bali Strait to the east, the Bajulmati River (near Wonorejo village) to the west, and the Klokoran River (near Sumberanyar village) to the south. The park is shaped roughly like a circle, with the extinct volcano Baluran at its center. The park covers an area of 25,000 hectares. It is divided into five zones: the Main Zone (12,000 hectares), the Wilderness Zone (5,537 hectares, which includes 1,063 hectares of water and 4,574 hectares of land), the Intensive Utilization Zone (800 hectares), the Specific Utilization Zone (5,780 hectares), and the Rehabilitation Zone (783 hectares).

Flora and fauna

Baluran National Park has recorded 444 plant species, including several endangered plants such as Ziziphus rotundifolia, Tamarindus indica, Dioscorea hispida, Aleurites moluccanus, and Corypha utan.

The park is home to 26 mammal species, including the endangered Banteng, Sumatran dhole, Indian muntjac, Java mouse-deer, Sunda leopard cat, Javan leopard, and Javan lutung. The Banteng population dropped from 338 in 1996 to 26 in 2012 due to invasive species like Acacia nilotica and water buffalo. Conservation breeding programs helped increase the population to about 200 by 2020.

The park’s bird species include the green peafowl, red junglefowl, Malabar pied hornbill, rhinoceros hornbill, and lesser adjutant. Bird records increased from 155 species in 2010 to 196 species after a bird photography competition in 2012.

Javan tigers lived in the protected area until the mid-1960s.

Conservation and threats

The area has been protected since 1928, first started by the Dutch hunter A.H. Loedeboer. In 1937, the Dutch colonial government declared it a wildlife refuge. In 1980, the area became a national park.

Poaching is a big problem for the wildlife in the park, especially for the banteng, which is becoming fewer in number. According to ProFauna Indonesia, both local people and soldiers have been involved in poaching.

The thorny acacia, which covers at least 6,000 hectares of grassland in Baluran National Park, has made it harder for bantengs to find food. In 2013, there were only 35 bantengs, while in 1996, there were still 320 bantengs.