The last of Vietnam’s Javan rhinoceroses has been killed by a poacher according to a recent report filed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). According to the agency there were two known Javan rhinos in a Vietnamese national park as of 2004 but in the last several years only one remaining rhino was recorded.
According to officials the last remaining rhino was shot in the leg and its horn had been cut off.
Officials says there are no footprints and no sightings of other rhino’s throughout the country, making the animal extinct in the region.
According to one WWF spokesman:
“It appears that protection is not being given a high priority by the Vietnamese government.”
In response to that statement a park director in Vietnam says it was impossible to stop all 100,000 people who live near the protected wildlife reserve from poaching.
According to the director:
“We’re not trying to avoid our responsibility in the death of the rhinos, but we’ve done our best to protect them.”
The rhinoceros is not extinct in all parts of the world, just in mainland Asia. At this time several dozen Javan rhino’s are still roaming free in the Indonesia wild while none are currently held in captivity.
Do you think the Vietnamese wildlife groups should have done more to protect an endangered species?