*Camera traps set up by the Indonesian government have revealed there are 35 Sumatran rhinos living in the wild, the environment ministry said Monday.*

The critically endangered species is the smallest rhino in the world and only lives on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where its numbers have dwindled in recent years due to poaching.

The rhinos were spotted in the Leuser Ecosystem, an area of rainforest that straddles the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, the environment ministry said in a statement.

"This is great news for the conservation of the Sumatran rhinoceros and gives us hope that this iconic species can still be saved from extinction," said Wiratno, the ministry's director general of biodiversity.

Wiratno said the rhinos were found in previously unmonitored areas within the Leuser Ecosystem, suggesting there could be even more of them living in the forest.

The ministry said the camera traps were set up as part of a collaboration with the Rhino Foundation of Sumatra and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The images captured by the camera traps also revealed that the rhinos are breeding successfully, with calves spotted alongside their mothers.

"This is a reminder of the importance of protecting and managing the Leuser Ecosystem, not just for the Sumatran rhinoceros but also for the many other endangered species that call this forest home," said WWF Indonesia country director, Dicky Simorangkir.

The Sumatran rhino is one of the most critically endangered species in the world, with only around 80 believed to remain in the wild.

The main threats to the species are poaching for their horns, which are highly prized in traditional Asian medicine, and habitat loss due to deforestation.