8-12 Javan Rhino in Vietnam.
Specimen. In coll. Ministry of Forestry, Hanoi, Vietnam
Lam Dong province is about 150 km north-east of Ho Chi Minh City, once Saigon. In March 1991, a survey was made there along the Dong Nai river in the area where the four provinces of Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Song Be and Dac Lac meet. This area of 35,000 ha of lowland forest represents the last stronghold of the Javan rhino in Vietnam and it is estimated that between eight and twelve animals may still survive there.
Maps of Vietnam and detail of Lam Dong, Dong Nai Song Be and Dac Lac
Maps of Vietnam and detail of Lam Dong, Dong Nai Song Be and Dac Lac
Maps of Vietnam and detail of Lam Dong, Dong Nai Song Be and Dac Lac
Maps of Vietnam and detail of Lam Dong, Dong Nai Song Be and Dac Lac
The Javan rhino Rhinoceros sondaicus was once widely distributed in northern and southern parts of Vietnam. Although even as early as 1969 there was scepticism as to whether Javan rhinos occurred in Vietnam, there were sporadic reports of their presence in the south from hunters and tribal people. Then, in 1988, one animal was killed by a Stieng tribesman and the skeleton taken to Hanoi, where it rests today at the Ministry of Forestry. That the animal outlived the war and the destruction wrought on its habitat by bombardment and defoliation is proof of a remarkable ability to survive.
The priorities for conservation of Javan rhinos in Vietnam are to protect the habitat and to eliminate the threat of poaching. It is proposed to link the 35,000 ha rhino area with the adjoining 45,000 ha Nam Bai Cat Tien National Park, provide a buffer zone around the rhino area to increase the total area to about 100,000 ha, and declare the entire unit a 'Man and Biosphere Reserve'. More detailed surveys of adjoining areas are planned, which should determine the range and number of Javan rhinos in Vietnam. Stricter penalties need to be imposed on persons killing rhinos or trading in their products. The conservation of the Javan rhino, if it is to succeed, must have the support of the local people, especially those who live along the fringes of the rhino habitat and whose livelihood depends on the rational use of forest resources. The Javan rhino in Vietnam is well adapted to respond to a 'Sanctuary Strategy'. The small rhino population in Lan Dong province can remain viable, and so must be protected and not abandoned on the hypothesis that genetic degeneration will set in and automatically eliminate it.
Vietnam. The altitude range of the mountains of southern Vietnam is such that most of the area in Lam Dong province along the Don Nai river is a rich habitat for rhinos. Among the plants eaten by the Javan rhino in Vietnam, and identified from undigested material found in their dung, were Acacia pennata, Calamus poilanei, Calamus tetredactylus, Combretum sp, Bambusa procera, Bambusa bluemeana, Plectocoia elongata and Daemonorop nigro-ciliata. In addition rhinos may be feeding on wood fern (Cyathea sp ). Rhinos can breakdown toxic plant material in their stomachs and so it was not surprising to find also a highly poisonous species, Strychnos nuxvomica.
Vietnam. The altitude range of the mountains of southern Vietnam is such that most of the area in Lam Dong province along the Don Nai river is a rich habitat for rhinos. Among the plants eaten by the Javan rhino in Vietnam, and identified from undigested material found in their dung, were Acacia pennata, Calamus poilanei, Calamus tetredactylus, Combretum sp, Bambusa procera, Bambusa bluemeana, Plectocoia elongata and Daemonorop nigro-ciliata. In addition rhinos may be feeding on wood fern (Cyathea sp ). Rhinos can breakdown toxic plant material in their stomachs and so it was not surprising to find also a highly poisonous species, Strychnos nuxvomica.
Much emphasis is placed on inbreeding depression in small populations. While the effects of inbreeding depression are real, they are often transitory in nature and not all small populations are doomed. contrary to what some zoos would have us believe. The effects of inbreeding depression can be minimised if numbers recover quickly from bottlenecks. The population of about 40 wild cattle at Chillingham in northern England is fit and thriving after some 800 years (about 120 generations) of continuous inbreeding, which has included bottlenecks of one female and one male in 1760 following an epidemic, and eight females and five males in 1947 following an arctic winter. Equally striking is the case of the collared lizards of the Ozarks where colonies of about 40 animals have experienced 4,000 years (about 2,000 generations) of inbreeding.
