Rare Java Rhinoceros Footprints Found in Vietnam
12/12/97
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Headline: Rare Java Rhinoceros Footprints Found in Vietnam
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 12/12/97
Hanoi, Nov 12 (AFP) - Forestry officials in Vietnam's central highlands
spotted footprints believed left by the Java rhinoceros, a nearly extinct
species, a report said on Wednesday.
The Saigon Times Daily reported that officials in the Cat Tien District of
Lam Dong province identified the footprints near a marsh.
The paper also said the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) believed there may be as
many as 10 such rhinos living in the Cat Loc Forests in Lam Dong province.
WWF officials in Hanoi could not be reached for comment.
An official from the Cat Loc Forest Management committee told AFP he could
not confirm the report but said he had heard "rumours that some ethnic
minorities had spotted the rhinos drinking from a salty marsh."
Vietnam has been fertile ground for wildlife research in recent years. Of the
10 new species identified worldwide this century, three have been found in
Vietnam's central provinces.
The most recent discovery was reported in August when researchers confirmed
that a new species of the muntjac, a deer-like mammal, had been identified,
after 18 skulls were unearthed.
In 1992 WWF-sponsored surveys discovered the Sao La oxen (Pseudoryx
nghetinhensis) and the giant muntjac (Megamuntiacus vuquangensis) in the
remote and wild mountainous Trung Son range.
While Vietnam is one of the most important frontiers for endangered mammals,
poor living conditions among people in remote areas threaten species who are
hunted for their meat.
Vietnam has seen around 200 different kinds of birds and 120 species of wild
animals become extinct in the past 40 years.