A Javan rhino that was found dead in the Cat Tien National Park in April may have been shot in the leg, World Wildlife Fund experts told a meeting last Thursday.
Park rangers found the endangered animal in an almost completely decomposed state and without its horn.
John E. Cooper, a veterinary endoscopy expert, said tests showed a trace of a bullet injury at the leg but it is not known if the animal died on the spot.
It may have died of an infection or some other cause to find out which requires more research, he said.
The animal’s sex is not known yet but from its tooth and bones it is thought to have been 20 years old.
Another WWF expert, Ed Newcomer, said the rhino could have been shot five or six months before it died.
The rhino may have been shot by one poacher and had its horn taken by another later, he said.
“We did not find blood at the place the horn would have been. So it can be said the rhino was dead long before.”
Sara Brook, a WWF official based in Vietnam, said the shooting of the rhino is a warning for Vietnam about its lax management of wildlife resources.
Rhino horns are highly valued in the illegal wildlife trade, while the skin and feces are used for medicinal purposes.
Vietnam’s Javan or lesser one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) population is one of only two left on the planet. Official estimates say there are fewer than 60 Javan rhinos in the world.
The larger population, of 40-60, is found in Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia. There are no Javan rhino in captivity anywhere.
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