A Gain for the Rhino, A Loss for the Tiger

There is heartening report about the Javanese cousins of the South Asian rhinoceros. At the same time, there is reason to worry about the Manchurian relative of the Royal Bengal Tiger.

The good news is that a rare species of Javanese Rhinoceros facing extinction and thought to remain only in the Indonesian island of Java was located last month in the jungles of Vietnam. The discovery was made by American naturalist George Schaller, well known for his work in the Himalaya and among the Pandas in China. The Java rhinoceros once populated all of Southeast Asia but is now the most endangered species of rhinoceros. There are only about 50 in a national park in Java. Schaller now believes that at least 10 to 15 survive in Viet Nam, even though they were decimated during the Vietnam War.