A Javan rhino has been found dead, killed by poachers in Cat Tien National Park. The body was found by locals on 29th April. It had been shot and its horn removed to be used in superstious quack medicine.
"This is devastating news for rhino conservation and Vietnam," said Dung Huynh Tien, National Policy Coordinator of WWF Vietnam. "The loss of this rhino is symbolic of the grim situation facing endangered species like the rhino and tiger across Vietnam."
"WWF urges the Vietnamese Government to launch an urgent and extensive criminal investigation into this animal's death," said Dung Huynh Tien.
A relic population of 15 animals were living in Vietnam now it is thought that the number is 8 or less.
Around 60 live in Java's Ujung Kulon National Park and four calves were born there in 2006.
Recent sightings in the jungles of Burma suggest that the Javan rhino may still exist there. The pollitical situation in the contry prevents closer investigation but it is a double edged sword, the same closedness may protect the animals from desturbance.
Sadly, I don't think we can count on Burma's internal civil war to protect any rhinos that may be living there. While it would likely slow or halt poaching efforts, the sheer destruction in Burma and the desperation of it's inhabitants brings it's own severities.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely informed on the situation, but this is my understanding. I have spoken at length with a human rights worker who ranged in the Burmese warzone (geurilla-style, having to sneak across the border) and he told me how the devestated ethnic minorities would kill and eat any wildlife just to stay alive. That, and the massive burnings, explosions, firefights, and such make the area a very questionable "safehaven".
https://heroesservinghumanity.org/