A rare Javan rhino has been found dead in the central highlands of Vietnam and is very likely to have been shot by poachers according to a press release by the WWF.

Killed for the horn

In a statement the WWF revealed the remains were found buried at a river bank in Cat Tien National Park on April 29 and physical and photographic evidence show the one ton female Javan rhino had been shot dead and had, had its horn removed.

Abnormal cut marks were found at the base of the horn, where it attached to the skull, and a large portion of the upper jaw bone had been removed.

The statement also reported that a high calibre bullet had been found embedded in the front left leg of the skeleton and related agencies are currently conducting tests on it to find out more.

A rhino expert for the WWF Craig Bruce said the rhino had been dead for at least five months and was probably shot many times by poachers, left seriously injured before dying.

The rarest large mammal in the world?

It is uncertain how many Java rhinos are left in Vietnam, if any at all. Recent research has shown that 40-50 rhino are left on Java, Indonesia and the Vietnamese population in known to be far fewer.

Java rhino is possibly the most endangered large mammal in the world and was only discovered in Vietnam in 1999 by a camera trap and was last photographed in December 2005.

Rhino horn is a highly prized ingredient in Chinese medicine and with prices as high as US$30,000 per kilogram is highly tempting to poachers.