Rhinos of all species are in danger of becoming extinct. The Javan rhino prefers dense rainforests, tall grasses and reed beds, while the Sumatran rhino lives at the highest elevation of all the rhino species. Samples taken from the dead rhino will be sent to Queen’s University in Canada for analysis to see if the DNA of the dead rhino matches any of the dung samples found earlier this year by a WWF survey team using trained sniffer dogs to assess the population of Javan Rhinos curviving in Viet Nam. The black rhino favors open woodlands, while the greater one horned rhino likes forests and the tall grasslands. Most rhinos are poached in southern Africa⎯especially Zimbabwe and South Africa, with poachers using increasingly sophisticated techniques.ĭemand from Asia is fuelling the poaching, with Viet Nam emerging as a principal destination for rhino horn, which is regarded both as a status symbol and used for medicinal purposes. “If this animal was indeed killed for its horn, then whoever was responsible should be brought to justice by the authorities in Viet Nam.”Ī recent investigation by TRAFFIC and others into the rhino horn trade revealed an alarming escalation in rhino poaching, which reached a 15 year high in 2009. “The incident highights the threat posed by poaching to the very existence of some of the world's rarest and iconic animals.” “For an animal at such critically low numbers, the loss of even one Javan Rhino is a conservation tragedy,” said Tom Osborn, TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme Leader. Similar to the other browsing species of rhino (black and Sumatran), Javan rhinos have a long, pointed, upper lip which helps in grabbing food. The species is classified by IUCN as Critically Endangered (facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild), and none are currently in captivity. Officials of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has confirmed that Vietnam has lost this endangered animal. Local people first discovered the long dead carcass, which was examined by national park authorities and WWF and appeared to have been shot and the horn removed, presumably by poachers.Īs few as six individual Javan Rhinoceros were previously believed to survive in Viet Nam, with a further 40–60 in Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia. The Javan rhino is now officially extinct in Vietnam. A camera-trap photo of a Javan Rhinoceros taken in December 2005 © WWF
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