The ''Vietnamese Javan Rhino'' (''Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus'') also known as the '' Indo-Chinese Javan Rhino'' is a possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

subspecies of the

Javan rhinoceros The Javan rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus''), also known as the Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros, is a very rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant rhinoceroses. It belongs to the same ge ...

that formerly lived in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, and may still survive in Vietnam. The subspecific term ''annamiticus'' derives from the Annamite name of the Indochinese Mountains in Indochina, part of the historical distribution of the subspecies.

Former distribution

''Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus'' once lived across South China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Taxonomy

Genetic analysis suggested the subspecies and the Indonesian Javan rhinoceros last shared a common ancestor between 300,000 and 2 million years ago.

Conservation

In 2006, a single population, estimated at fewer than 12 remaining rhinos, lived in an area of

seasonal tropical forest Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon forests, typically contain a range of tree species: only some of which drop some or all of their leaves during the dry season. This tropic ...

Cat Tien National Park The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

in Vietnam. The last known individual of the population was shot by a poacher in 2010, and some conservation groups believe that the subspecies is extinct.

Threats

As with many other species, the two main factors in the decline of the Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros populations has been loss of habitat combined with over-hunting. Poaching for horns, a problem that affects all rhino species. The horns have been a traded commodity for more than 2,000 years in China, where they are believed to have healing properties. Because the Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros's final range encompassed an area of human poverty, it is difficult to convince local people not to kill an animal that could be sold for an enormous sum of money.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2000720 Rhinoceroses Fauna of Southeast Asia