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.
As sad as this event it, if there was only one rhino left, how could the speices have been saved in Vietnam?
Anything at this time was too little, too late.
What a bunch of morons.
All this is very sad.
However, if there was only one rhino left in Vietnam, how could the speices have been saved?
Too little too late.
Can you say 7 billion?
Can you say BP?
“The horns, when ground down and dissolved in boiling water, help treat typhoid fever or even cancer”. We are the Cancer, Rhino should be killing us.
How many Rhino’s was killed by B52’s and Agent Orange?
As far as the Earth and space was made for man. If man is gone there is nothing.
Chinese medicine is the culprit. Just watch: After they kill off all of the wild tigers and rhinos in the next few years they will start hitting zoos, first in developing countries where the security is lax and then finally in the US and elsewhere. We'll have 24 hour guard with guns posted. Won't do any good. These animals are doomed.
First words of this article: "Vietnam's rare Javan rhinoceros was declared extinct"
Caption of second photo:: "The Javan rhinoceros is in danger of becoming extinct."
BRILLIANT!
It's become extinct in Vietnam. The actual species is kept alive in a captive breeding program. Where's the mistake?
Considering that it says specifically the Vietnam Javan Rhinoceros is extinct, but that the Javan species itself is still in Java, Indonesia, I think the captions are fairly accurate.
Welcome to reading comprehension 101.
What a moron – some people make comments just to see themselves in print. In Vietnam, the species is extinct, but if you had taken time to actually READ the article, you would have seen that there are still 50 or so in Java. Go figure!
they need to get some of the DNA from the animal's bones or remains and store that. that species can be brought back later using another cell stripped of its DNA.
sad ,disgusting, barbaric , i wíll give the same treatment to poacher.... shame on them....:(
Bigotry should be made extinct.
I heard that ground up poachers help cure cancer!! Let's get to grinding.
So is Jennifer.
Yet another way the US is way ahead of the rest of the world. We already exterminated all of our rare species over 100 years ago. These 3rd world nations are so backward.
what a bunch of idiots.
we should go to war with vietnam! they are mass murderers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah – that last war in Vietnam went over like a champ, didn't it?
I agree. Why the hell do they treat animals so terribly? They are a very sick and inhumane people when it comes to animals. Very sad. NO COMPASSION WHATSOEVER!