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.
Dumb like a fox..those quacks who practice so called Oriental medicine know that the scarcer the product ....the more the customer pays. And if the ground up rhino horn works better than viagra ....priceless. By the way I'll bet those 50 zillion lbs of explosives and defoliants we dropped on Vietnam in the last century didn't help the rhino population one bit!
Man is one stupid species. The day is coming when man will be extinct. The day will come when Poachers will kill the last man on earth.
So sad.
doubtful, more probable nuclear winter or mutually assured destruction by our own species
How can a poacher kill the last man on earth? Is the poacher a woman? Or is this a trick question.
I hope you're the last man on earth so when they kill you someone can scream... "You killed Kenny! You bas^ards!"
to Dawson... really? You bothered typing that reply?
If we are so stupid, then how come we got this far and survived this long, hmm? Plus, poachers are human, and after they hunt your so called "last human" they are still alive,therefore there still would be humans.
I am tired of reading about awesome animals being hunted to extinction because Asians are terrible in bed
Wha?
Hate to break the news to people 90% of all species that have ever existed have gone extinct, in fact, every species on earth eventually goes extinct. WE will at some point to ...even if we don't go extinct in normal sense, earth will at some point be inhospitable and we will have to move to another planet or starhsips or whatever, but there will be no more man on earth.
yeah that's real funny..actually the white man, the black man, yellow man, red man....every man has killed, kills, and will kill endangered animals for their own self centered purposes. Helps them feel like a man.
100% Agree. Definitely some manhood issues over there. Shooting things from a distance with a gun = tough, I guess. Really, really sad.
@ franky There is a big difference between a species going extinct via natural selection and a species that goes extinct because we kill them all! We are responsible for this world and it is so very sad that a majority of people seem not to care about anything other than themselves.
Money, money and more money.
Sad. Really sad.
Agreed.
Rumor has it that poachers, when ground up and boiled, provide long and healthy lives to wild animals.
"Like"
Sorry folks – bu that Mike guy is sorta right. Not all Asians are like he said of course, but the vast majority are! Sad bu true. I have lived (due to my job) in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore and have also traveled in Vietnam, Cambodia and many other countries in that area: the average Asian does not care or give a damn about animals an nature. They really kill everything and would rather put resorts in every pristine area. They LOVE shopping malls and big cities. Animals and nature in all cultures I have experienced there, are goods to be consumed or a nuisance, which must be removed for urbanization.
They see nature and animals as primitive and worthless, they have no compassion for other life – even other people. What matters the most is to keep prestige a nice reputation. Their brains are not vey well developed.
It's really, really sad. The few Asians who are not like that suffer tremendously. See what happened in China recently – that story about the little girls left to die!! Do I have to say anything else?
Asia is hell on earth
"Asia is hell on earth" ? WHAT A DUMB COMMENT!!!
I know there are a lot of places are worst than Asia. Advice to you, don't visit Asia. Nobody there will miss you.
You are a moron. LOL
And you are a filthy racist lier, I am a pure Asian, and most Asians I know are much better than you fuxxing white people !
That is a truly pathetic post. Grow up- you don't know anything.
There is nothing that you have said that shows they are any different then the West.
Also the situation with the little girl as tragic as that is shouldnt be blamed on the Asian people in general. That situation should be blamed on how the government blames someone for trying to help. The government has said just recently they are now amending their laws so people arent so scared anymore to speak up.
Grow up!
You are SOOOOO right on the money. You can tell how beautifully you stated your thoughts by the angry asians who's chords you hit!
I'd only go to asia so I could stomp around on the street and feel like Godzilla.
The rest of animal kingdom can't wait until man is extinct, a day that will come sooner than most people think.
Isn't it wonderful Americans are such great protetors of our environment... We did have a little "hickup" when we slaughtered tens of millions of American Bison so rich people could use their hides and the Comanche would starve to death. Oh yeah... that passenger pidgeon that once darkened the sky is gone now. We were also a little tough on the entire Native American population – killing them off and stealing their land. But those "Asians"... Good thing we're not like them...
But you seem to have no problem exercising your freedom of speech, and waking your fat ass up and eating at McDonald's. Go hug a tree and smoke some more weed. America is the best country in the World. And how about mentioning something that happened in the last 100 years. I heard the Roman Empire crucified a bunch of people, so Italy must suck too.
Actually Larry, it is a myth that whites devastated the Buffalo herds. Once Native Americans had horses, they would drive buffalo off cliffs by the hundreds. By the time the white man made it further out west, much of the damage was done.
Too true for comfort Larry. Let's face it...the rise of human beings (of any ethnicity) is the worst thing to happen to this poor planet. We are the only species that I know of that kills out of emotional anger or desire, without needing (or wanting) to eat what we kill. Other species kill for food, or fight for the right to mate/breed, or to defend themselves. Wild animals don't even defecate where they eat or in their dens. Humans sometimes kill for sport, or revenge, or pleasure even. All in all a rather disgusting approach to the fact we are all in this together, animals and humans, and that this is the only planet we have. Earth would have been better off if we humans had never existed.
good one
Come on there are better things to bring up than 250 years ago. Is that all you have? You could of googled something better than that. Stay current.
*We* didn't do any of that. Were you around back then?
Just what I was thinking. The "race" responsible is called the human race.
Not defending anyone here but that was in the 1800s. Things have progressed a little since then and global awareness of species depletion is just a tad higher. Pointing to past poor behavior does not make current poor behavior OK nor should it be used to shame people who did not participate in the hunt for American Bison.
Fact is that it is a shame that another species has been lost to an entire country. It is a double shame that it was the result of deliberate actions.
We didn't steal the land from the native Americans; we traded it for whiskey. It isn't our fault they woke up the next morning having forgotten what happened.
It is horrible what has happened in this country...I'm glad we are learning and have progressed from 100 years ago. There are lots of countries in this world that can learn from our mistakes and step up to stop the insanity. Just becuase we have some ancestors that ruined ecosystems does not mean we don't have the right to complain about other countries doing what we know is wrong. Should we just shut our mouths and let the slaughter continue?
Don't forget the wolves and the bears that were wiped out of most parts of the US.
exactly!
And how many childred did you crank out??? Is is more than one? Are you one of the Human Locusts that is breeding uncontrollably and consuming everything in sight? If the answer to that question is yes, you are part of the problem!
No humans are "native" to America, we all came here at different times. The Euros just happened to conquer the humans that were here first, and that my friend happens not only in the human kingdom but the animal kindgom as well.
Well we were just really hungry and the indians were drinking all the booze. What else was left but to just shoot everything.
gee, Larry why do you have to go back in history so far to prove you hate America...yesterday's headlines should work just fine for someone like you
The sad bit is that the bison were not actually used for much more than just the meat and were also killed as pest animals in many cases, though luckily they were not driven to extinction. The Passenger Pigeon though were hunted to extinction even though the hunters knew they were harvesting the last known flock. In their defense though they didn't understand the breeding habits of the pigeons and thought they would simply breed back. Because of the Passenger Pigeons reliance on existing in such huge numbers breeding was impossible once their numbers dropped below a critical threshold that no one at the time was aware of.
N' don' fergit da Carrier Pigeons n' Dodo birds, George!
Time to get over it, Lar. Maybe they should've fought harder?
Back then a differnent world and guess what it evolves towards the good.
As a native American.. I must agree with you.
So many forget the pain this country was built on.
Larry L, are Bison extinct ? No, are the Native Americans exticnt ? no. Was that over 100 years ago ? yes. Have we as Americans enacted the endangered species protection act ? Yes. So in other words, we do not need to make a species extinct for "medicinal" purposes that have no factual evidence of helping anything except man's insatiable greed and will to dominate. Nothing more, nothing less
Larry,
Earlier you asked why I mentioned Bible.
I did so because a previous writer made an astoundingly foolish statement about the Bible and the bearing it had on poaching in Vietnam.
I pointed out the writer’s blatant error, not only for their sake, but also for the sake of others.
To Larry:
Earlier you asked why I mentioned Bible.
I did so because a previous writer made an astoundingly foolish statement about the Bible and the bearing it had on poaching in Vietnam.
I pointed out the writer’s blatant error, not only for their sake, but also for the sake of others.
Really? WE did not slaughter anyone. Our ancestors did (well, not mine since I am a first generation immigrant but that's beyond the point) and we are rightfully horrified by that. Luckily, we moved on past that mentality and now WE are trying to protect the endangered species. Some people in the world, however, still have that mentality NOW. Just because our ancestors in the stone age were cannibals does mean we should condone the same behavior nowadays and feel like we don't have the right to judge? Do you really believe that your parents' sins and crimes are your own? Because if so, there is probably enough in the history of your family to put you away forever. Ridiculous.
Hey Larry, shut your white guilt hole for a minute while you learn that Native Americans ran entire herds of Bison off cliffs so they could eat a couple. Shame you weren't under them.
Yeah... you do realize that was awhile ago, right?
Funny how critiques of what happened in NORTH America are always brought up....but what was done to the indigenous tribes by the Spanish and Portuguese in SOUTH AMERICA (with the blessings of the Pope) to grab their gold and gems (didn't really care about the land–no huge waves on settlers from Europe as happened in N. America) is ALWAYS BRUSHED UNDER THE CARPET.
Amen to that.
I'm an Aisan and an American, so lets not over generalize here. Not to mention condemning an entire nation of people for wrong doings that were done before most were even born isnt very fair either. And since we are talking about America, a land which was built by immigrants what do we say to those whose ancestors hadn't even become Americans when this happened? Please put just a lil thought into what you write before hitting the "post" button.
If the best you can do is dig up things from well over 100 years ago, then I'd say you have a pretty weak argument about today's societies.
Stupid how you turn this into a "but..butt.buut the Americans!!!!" Yeah, the Americans, whose examples you stated were from 100+ years ago and "America" is also the home to the worlds largets conservation groups. You cannot solve a current problem by uselessly digging up the past, unless you choose to learn from it and use it as an educational example for the rest of the world.
Maybe Asia will come fully into the 21st century, or 22nd, or 23rd, and finally realize that few of their ancient "medicines" actually do anything. Then again, much of the world thinks we're here because of a guy in the clouds, or some other nonsense.
Yeah, and when will the Western world realize that their modern medicine doesn't work too well either? Be careful what you say about medicine from other cultures. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't work. I'm not condoning what has been done nor do I believe that the horn, once ground, has any effects, but don't lump all non-Western medicine together. It's just ignorant.
Hate to break the news to people 90% of all species that have ever existed have gone extinct, in fact, every species on earth eventually goes extinct. WE will at some point to ...even if we don't go extinct in normal sense, earth will at some point be inhospitable and we will have to move to another planet or starhsips or whatever, but there will be no more man on earth.
What is your point idiot? So since there have been many extinctions over the history of the Earth, then that makes it ok that these rare species which are barely hanging on to be poached? STFU tool.
Yes, Franky, but not by the design of human beings, who have evolved incredible reasoning brains. We use our brains to destroy our environment and each other. The few who protest are ridiculed–or worse.
Mother Nature has wiped out species, but one species has never entirely wiped out another before man got involved. Anti-poaching patrols are in place because HUMANS are greedy, disgusting barbarians. Other animals have enough common sense to only take what is needed.
" Stop thinking your grandchildren will be OK no matter how wasteful or destructive you may be, since they can go to a nice new planet on a spaceship. That is really mean and stupid."
-Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Extinct is forever. One day another civilization will discover that we were here and be appalled that we used our brains to destroy our planet and so ourselves.
I don't advocate the senseless killing of animals. That's just wrong. And I hate to see extinction of species. I love the diversity of our animal kingdom. Losing any of them is a shame. But in thinking about this article, if there was only one left, how much hope was there that this animals was going to make a comeback from extinction?
The one rhino from a different location might have provided a critical influx of new genes to the group in Java perhaps?
Poachers should be hunted to extinction.
Hahahaha. That was pretty funny I must admit.
they eat dogs in vietnam, true story
And the U.S. exports horse meat to Europe for consumption. They actually promote it on the USDA website.
They worship cows in India, true story.