Vietnam's rare Javan rhinoceros was declared extinct in that area after poachers killed the last remaining animal in the country for its horns, the World Wildlife Fund said.
“Vietnam must see this loss as another warning sign of its looming wave of species extinctions,” Dr. Barney Long, WWF’s Asian species expert, said in a statement. “The single most important action that is needed to save remaining threatened species like tigers and elephants is protection.”
The country had been struggling to keep the population alive amid widespread poaching that the WWF said was the cause of many Asian rhino species being brought to the "brink of extinction."
The WWF said people in certain parts of Asia believe the horns, when ground down and dissolved in boiling water, help treat typhoid fever or even cancer, the WWF said, noting that there has been no scientific proof of that.
The group said trying to bring the species back into the area won't work.
“Reintroduction of the rhinoceros to Vietnam is not economically or practically feasible," WWF’s Asian Elephant and Rhino Program Coordinator Dr. Christy Williams said. "It is gone from Vietnam forever."
So now, the Javan rhino only exists in one area in the world, according to the WWF.
The Javan rhinoceros is in danger of becoming extinct.
The group reported that there is one population of less than 50 animals in the Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia. Now, workers will turn their attention there, working with anti-poaching patrols to hopefully keep the species from going extinct.
“For the Javan rhino, we now have to focus entirely on one site in Indonesia where strengthened protection is needed along with fast-tracking the proposed translocation and habitat management,” Long said.
Idiots. Bleeding barbaric idiots!
Please don't speak about your mother like that....
Please use correct terminology. It wasn't declared "extinct in that area", the correct term for that is "extirpated".
Agreed. What happened was bad, but the species still exists, for now... though 50 animals is hardly enough to feel optimistic about its future.
But it is extinct " in that area? It didnt say exstinct worldwide.
huh? Chris is correct ... extinct is extinct, none exist anywhere, that's the definition. Otherwise they'd be extinct in North America, South America, Australia, New Zeeland, Greenland, Iceland ... etc The term extinct was just used to get attention.
Chris, you're still a dolt.
These poachers are ignorant murderers. The horn has no medicinal value. Stupid!
Of course it's not; they know that. They also know there's a sucker born every minute willing to pay big bucks for it.
Well I hope your happy now Charlie. What're you going to kill now because your IDIOTIC beliefs that some part of another animal will heal your ills?
Just start shooting the poachers and hanging their remains around the border of the sanctuary for examples.
That will only work if we start the idea that ground up Poacher bones cure something - maybe the common cold? No, wait, let's make it the same thing that Viagra is for, and see how fast the poachers disappear...
Times like this I'm embarrassed to be Human. We should be ashamed of ourselves
nice job, zipper
This is why "popular opinion" can be extremely dangerous. Just because a notion is "popular" doesn't mean it's factual.
Stupid poachers, may you roast in rhino....
On a more positive note it has recently been discovered that Poacher testicles will cure cancer.
That's asian culture for you. They only place value on life as an exploitable resource to use up until it's gone. No foresight whatsoever.
Right, not like how we Americans nearly obliterated the Buffalo from the Great Plains by indiscriminately hunting them for sport. Because pointing a rifle out the window of a train and picking off defenseless animals one by one is so civilized.
Excuse me? What about our glorious ancestors who shot bison on the great plains just for some target practice (most guys couldn't shoot that well despite the movies, so they made great targets where they could feel good) until they were on the verge of being wiped out. We didn't use them for anything, they just rotted on the plains as cultures who relied on them for centuries were also moved/killed. What about wolves, the Great Banks, and on and on. It all makes me fing sick, no matter if a white guy or brown guy is the one killing and being poor stewards. We have one planet.
C'mon sbp1. Get real. The hunting of buffalo to the brink of extinction had nothing to do with the buffalo themselves. It was part of a systematic effort in the genocide of the Native Americans. Since the buffalo was a major source of their raw materials (food, clothing, etc.) ... it was decided that if we eliminate the buffalo we'd eliminate the red man.
Reminds me of just about every other culture in the world. Why pick on Asians, particularly?
Because he's an idiot....that's why he picks on Asian.
You're a Dodo brain.
This has nothing to do with the Asian culture, it is happening all around the world by all peoples. You are an ignorant person, perhaps you should read more about culture before you post something so ridiculous.
Don't blame the guy who killed the last one, blame the one who killed the second last. With less than two the species is already extinct, minus a few years.
if only it was that easy to get rid of the Vietnamese 🙁
bah ha ha! Sofa king right.
Breed to eat, you every here of an extinct cow?
Earths final ecosystem, humans and cows – there's a nice planet for you.
Need pigs too. Gotta have bacon.
LOZ Bimbo LOLZ...Don't forget pork chops.
These are very poor people who are doing anything thing they can to either make some money and/or feed their family.
I can not say with certainty that I would not do the same thing if I was in their shoes. I do hope we can save the species.
Okay. Fine they're poor. So now what are they going to do since they wiped out the Rhinos? Poach women and children from the next village?