Vietnam’s rare Javan rhinoceros was already extinct, the World Wildlife Fund announced at a press conference in Hanoi Tuesday.
WWF said the organization genetic analysis of dung samples collected in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park from 2009 to 2010 affirmed that the individual animal found dead in the park in April 2010 was the final wild rhino in the country.
This was the second study on Javan rhinoceros in Vietnam.
The first study, conducted by Queen University of Canada in 2004, showed that at least two rhino individuals were living in Cat Tien National Park at that time.
WWF said the Javan rhino was believed to be extinct from mainland Asia until 1988 when one was hunted from the Cat Tien Area.
