Fish & Wildlife Service grant, researchers in Melnick's lab are working out methods to analyze dung from Javan rhinos.
If the Javan rhino populations in Indonesia and Vietnam also exhibit unique genetic adaptations to their local environments, Melnick told SCIENCE NEWS, "only in the most dire circumstances would you consider interbreeding them.
Experience with Indonesia's Javan rhinos suggests that protecting this species in Vietnam won't prove easy.