The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large
mammals
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
, a forest-dwelling
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...
native to the
Annamite Range
The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Viet ...
in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. It was described in 1993 following a discovery of remains in
Vũ Quang National Park
Vũ Quang National Park is a national park in Vũ Quang District, Hà Tĩnh Province, North Central Coast, Vietnam. This park contains biodiversity. Saola and Giant muntjac are species found in this park. Vũ Quang is a remote forested region ...
by a joint survey of the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
.
Saolas have since been kept in captivity multiple times, although only for short periods as they died within a matter of weeks to months.
The species was first reported in 1992 by Do Tuoc, a forest
ecologist
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
, and his associates.
[ The first photograph of a living saola was taken in captivity in 1993. The most recent one was taken in 2013 by a movement-triggered camera in the forest of central Vietnam. It is the only species in ]genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Pseudoryx''.
Taxonomy
In May 1992, the Ministry of Forestry, Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
sent a survey team to examine the biodiversity of the newly established Vu Quang National Park. On this team were Do Tuoc, Le Van Cham and Vu Van Dung (of the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute); Nguyen Van Sang (of the Institute of Ecological and Biological Resources); Nguyen Thai Tu (of Vinh University Vinh University, established on July 16, 1959 under Decree 375/ND of government, is a comprehensive university for the North Central region of Vietnam. Professor Nguyễn Thúc Hào was the first headmaster. He also led the efforts of building the u ...
); and John MacKinnon (of the World Wildlife Fund
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...
). On 21 May, the team procured a skull featuring a pair of strange, long and pointed horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
s from a local hunter. They came across a similar pair in the Annamite Range
The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Viet ...
in the northeastern region of the reserve the following day. The team ascribed these features to a new bovid
The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, the ...
species, calling it the "saola" or the "Vu Quang ox" to avoid confusion with the sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
serow
The serows ( or ) are four species of medium-sized goat-like or antelope-like mammals of the genus ''Capricornis''. All four species of serow were until recently also classified under ''Naemorhedus'', which now only contains the gorals.
Extant ...
. The WWF officially announced the discovery of the new species on 17 July 1992.
According to biodiversity specialist Tony Whitten, though Vietnam boasts a variety of flora and fauna, many of which have been recently described, the discovery of as large an animal as the saola was quite unexpected. The saola was the first large mammal to be discovered in the area for 50 years. Observations of live saola have been few and far between, restricted to the Annamite Range
The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Viet ...
.
The scientific name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
of the saola is ''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''. It is the sole member of the genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''Pseudoryx
The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was desc ...
'' and is classified under the family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Bovidae
The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, ...
. The species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
was first described in 1993 by Vu Van Dung, Do Tuoc, biologists Pham Mong Giao and Nguyen Ngoc Chinh, Peter Arctander of the University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
and John MacKinnon.[ The discovery of saola remains in 1992 generated huge scientific interest due to the animal's special physical traits. The saola differs significantly from all other bovid genera in appearance and morphology, enough to place it in its own genus (''Pseudoryx'').
A recent sequencing study of ]ribosomal
Ribosomes ( ) are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to for ...
mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
of a large taxon sample divides the bovid family into two major subfamilial clades. The first clade is the subfamily Bovinae
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...
consisting of three tribes: Bovini
The Tribe (biology), tribe Bovini, or wild cattle, are medium to massive Bovinae, bovines that are native to North America, Eurasia, and Africa. These include the enigmatic, antelope-like saola, the African and Asiatic Bubalina, buffalos, and a c ...
(cattle and buffaloes, including the saola), Tragelaphini ( Strepsicerotini) (African spiral-horned bovids) and Boselaphini
Boselaphini is a tribe of bovines. It contains only two extant genera, each with a single extant species.
Description
The Boselaphini or four-horned antelope tribe are the last survivors of a form very similar to that of the ancestors of the bro ...
(the nilgai
The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter Sim ...
and four-horned antelope
The four-horned antelope (''Tetracerus quadricornis''), or ''chousingha'', is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns (with a few exceptions, such as the Jacob sheep) ...
). The second clade is the subfamily Antelopinae, which includes all other bovids. Antelopinae is composed of the three tribes: Caprini
The subfamily Caprinae, also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini, is part of the ruminant family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine, or, more informally, a goat-antelope (a ...
(goats, sheep, and muskox), Hippotragini (horse-like antelopes), and Antilopini
Antilopini is a tribe of bovids often referred as true antelopes like gazelles. They live in and around the Sahara, Horn of Africa, throughout eastern and southern Africa, and Eurasia. Depending on species, the females have either very short and ...
(gazelles).
Since its physical traits are so complex to classify, ''Pseudoryx'' had been classified variously as member of the subfamily Caprinae
The subfamily Caprinae, also sometimes referred to as the tribe Caprini, is part of the ruminant family Bovidae, and consists of mostly medium-sized bovids. A member of this subfamily is called a caprine, or, more informally, a goat-antelope (a ...
and as belonging to any of the three tribes of the subfamily Bovinae: Boselaphini, Bovini and Tragelaphini. DNA analysis has led scientists to place the saola as a member of the tribe Bovini. The morphology of its horns, teeth and some other features indicate it should be grouped with less-derived or more ancestral bovids. Scientific consensus may lead to classifying the saola as the sole member of a proposed new tribe, Pseudorygini.
Etymology
The name 'saola' has been translated as "spindle
Spindle may refer to:
Textiles and manufacturing
* Spindle (textiles), a straight spike to spin fibers into yarn
* Spindle (tool), a rotating axis of a machine tool
Biology
* Common spindle and other species of shrubs and trees in genus ''Euony ...
horned
A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent.
In mammals, true horns ...
, although the precise meaning is actually "spinning-wheel post horn". The name comes from a Tai
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
language of Vietnam. The meaning is the same in Lao language
Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian (, 'Lao' or , 'Lao language'), is a Kra–Dai language of the Lao people. It is spoken in Laos, where it is the official language for around 7 million people, as well as in northeast Thailand, where it ...
(, also spelled /sǎo-lǎː/ in Lao). The specific name ''nghetinhensis'' refers to the two Vietnamese provinces of Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh, while ''Pseudoryx'' acknowledges the animal's similarities with the Arabian or African oryx
''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which l ...
. The Hmong people
The Hmong people ( RPA: ''Hmoob'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , ) are a sub-ethnic group of the Miao people who originated from Central China. The modern Hmongs presently reside mainly in Southwest China (Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chon ...
in Laos refer to the animal as ''saht-supahp'', a term derived from Lao ( /sàt supʰáːp/) meaning "the polite animal", because it moves quietly through the forest. Other names used by minority groups in the saola's range are ''lagiang'' ( Van Kieu), ''a ngao'' ( Ta Oi) and ''xoong xor'' (Katu
KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP (channel 16). Both stations share studios on N ...
) [ In the press, saolas have been referred to as "Asian unicorns",][ an appellation apparently due to its rarity and reported gentle nature, and perhaps because both the saola and the oryx have been linked with the ]unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
. No known link exists with the Western unicorn myth or the "Chinese unicorn", the qilin
The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of on ...
.
Description
In a 1998 publication, William G. Robichaud, the coordinator of the Saola Working Group, recorded physical measurements for a captive female saola he dubbed 'Martha', in a Laotian menagerie. She was observed for around 15 days until she died from unknown causes. Robichaud noted the height of the female as at the shoulder; the back was slightly elevated, nearly taller than the shoulder height. The head-and-body length was recorded as . The general characteristics of the saola, as shown by studies during 1993–5 as well as the 1998 study, include a chocolate brown coat with patches of white on the face, throat and the sides of the neck, a paler shade of brown on the neck and the belly, a black dorsal stripe, and a pair of nearly parallel horns, present on both sexes.[
Robichaud noted that the hair, straight and long, was soft and thin–a feature unusual for an animal that is associated with montane habitats in at least a few parts of its range. While the hair was found to be short on the head and the neck, it thickened to woolly hair on the insides of the forelegs and the belly. Studies before 1998 reported a hint of red in the inspected skins. The neck and the belly are a paler shade of brown compared to the rest of the body. A common observation in all the three aforementioned studies is a thick stripe extending from the shoulders to the tail along the middle of the back. The tail, which measured in Robichaud's specimen, is divided into three horizontal bands, brown at the base, black at the tip and white in the middle.][ Saola skin is thick over most of the body, but thickens to near the nape of the neck and at the upper shoulders. This adaptation is thought to protect against both predators and rivals' horns during fights.]
The saola has round pupil
The pupil is a black hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to strike the retina.Cassin, B. and Solomon, S. (1990) ''Dictionary of Eye Terminology''. Gainesville, Florida: Triad Publishing Company. It appears black ...
s with dark-brown iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
Iris or IRIS may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional ent ...
es that appear orange when light is shone into them; a cluster of white whiskers about long with a presumably tactile function protrude from the end of the chin. The specimen Robichaud observed could extend its tongue up to and reach its eyes and upper parts of the face; the upper surface of the tongue is covered with fine, backward-pointing barbs. Robichaud observed that either of the two maxillary glands (sinus
Sinus may refer to:
Anatomy
* Sinus (anatomy), a sac or cavity in any organ or tissue
** Paranasal sinuses, air cavities in the cranial bones, especially those near the nose, including:
*** Maxillary sinus, is the largest of the paranasal sinuses, ...
es) had a nearly rectangular hollow with the dimensions , covered by a thick flap. The maxillary glands of the saola are probably the largest among those of all other animals. The glands are covered by a thick, pungent, grayish green, semi-solid secretion beneath which lies a sheath of few flat hairs. Robichaud observed several pores, used probably for secretion, on the upper surface of the lid. Each white facial spot shelters one or more nodules from which originate long white or black hairs. These secretions are typically rubbed against the underside of vegetation, leaving a musky, pungent paste. The spoor of the forelegs measured long by wide, and long by for the hindlegs.
Both sexes possess slightly divergent horns that are similar in appearance and form almost the same angle with the skull, but differ in their lengths. Horns resemble the parallel wooden posts locally used to support a spinning wheel (thus the familiar name "spindlehorn"). These are generally dark-brown or black and about 35–50 cm long; twice the length of their head. Studies in 1993 and 1995 gave the maximum distance between the horn tips of wild specimens as ,[ but the female observed by Robichaud showed a divergence of between the tips. Robichaud noted that the horns were apart at the base. While studies prior to Robichaud's claim the horns are uniformly circular in cross-section, Robichaud observed his specimen had horns with a nearly oval cross-section. The sides of the base of the horns is rugged and indented.][
]
Distribution and habitat
The saola has one of the smallest ranges of any large mammal. It inhabits wet evergreen or deciduous forests in eastern Southeast Asia, preferring river valleys. Sightings have been reported from steep river valleys at above sea level. In Vietnam and Laos, the species' range appears to cover approximately , including four nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s. During the winters, it migrates to the lowlands. In the northern Annamite Mountains
The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains (french: Chaîne annamitique; lo, ພູ ຫລວງ ''Phou Luang''; vi, Dãy (núi) Trường Sơn) is a major mountain range of eastern Indochina, extending approximately through Laos, Vietnam ...
, it was sighted mostly near streams at elevations of .
Ecology and behaviour
Local people reported that the saola is active in the day as well as at night, but prefers resting during the hot midday hours. Robichaud noted that the captive female was active mainly during the day, but pointed out that the observation could have been influenced by the unfamiliar surroundings the animal found herself in. When she rested, she would draw her forelegs inward to her belly, extend her neck so that her chin touched the ground, and close her eyes.[ Though apparently solitary, saola have been reported in groups of two or three][ as well as up to six or seven. Grouping patterns of the saola resemble those of the ]bushbuck
The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
, anoa
Anoa, also known as dwarf buffalo and ''sapiutan'', are two species of the genus '' Bubalus'' endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia: the mountain anoa (''Bubalus quarlesi'') and the lowland anoa (''Bubalus depressicornis''). Both li ...
, and sitatunga
The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, ...
.
Robichaud observed that the captive female was calm in the presence of humans, but was afraid of dogs. On an encounter with a dog, she would resort to snorting and thrust her head forward, pointing her horns at her opponent. Her erect ears pointed backward, and she stood stiffly with her back arched. Meanwhile, she hardly paid any attention to her surroundings. This female was found to urinate and defecate separately, dropping her hind legs and lowering her lower body – a common observation among bovids. She would spend considerable time grooming herself with her strong tongue. Marking behaviour in the female involved opening up the flap of the maxillary gland
In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland).
Structure
De ...
and leaving a pungent secretion on rocks and vegetation. She would give out short bleats occasionally.[
]
Diet
Robichaud offered spleenwort
''Asplenium'' is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, often treated as the only genus in the family (biology), family Aspleniaceae, though other authors consider ''Hymenasplenium'' separate, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of DNA seque ...
(''Asplenium''), ''Homalomena
''Homalomena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. ''Homalomena'' are found in southern Asia and the southwestern Pacific. Many ''Homalomena'' have a strong smell of anise. The name derives apparently from a mistranslated Mala ...
'', and various species of broad-leaved shrubs or trees of the family Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus ''Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae.
A ...
to the captive animal. The saola fed on all plants, and showed a preference for the Sterculiaceae species. She did not pull at leaves, she would rather chew or pull them into her mouth using her long tongue. She fed mainly during the day, and rarely in the dark. The saola is also reputed to feed on ''Schismatoglottis
''Schismatoglottis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. Members of the genus are similar in appearance and growth habit to those of the genus ''Homalomena'', but the two genera are not closely related. The primary differen ...
'', unlike other herbivores in its range.
Reproduction
Very little information is available about the reproductive cycle of the saola. The saola is likely to have a fixed mating
In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproduc ...
season, from late August to mid-November; only single calf births have been documented, mainly during summer between mid-April and late June. In the absence of more specific data, the gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
period has been estimated as similar to that of ''Tragelaphus
''Tragelaphus'' is a genus of medium- to large-sized, spiral-horned antelopes. It contains several species of bovines, all of which are relatively antelope-like. Species in this genus tend to be large in size and lightly built, and have long nec ...
'' species, about 33 weeks.[ Three reports of saola killings from nearby villagers involved young accompanying mothers. One possessed long horns, another an estimated , and the third ; these varying horn lengths suggest a birth season extending over at least two to three months.][
]
Conservation
The saola is currently considered to be critically endangered.[ Its restrictive habitat requirements and aversion to human proximity are likely to endanger it through ]habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...
. Saola suffer losses through local hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and the illegal trade in furs, traditional medicines, and for use of the meat in restaurants and food markets. They also sometimes get caught in snares that have been set to catch animals raiding crops, such as wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
, sambar, and muntjac
Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...
. More than 26,651 snares have so far been removed from saola habitats by conservation groups.
The key feature of the area occupied by the saola is its remoteness from human disturbance. Saola are shot for their meat, but hunters also gain high esteem in the village for the production of a carcass. Due to the scarcity, the locals place much more value on the saola than more common species. Because the people in this area are traditional hunters, their attitude about killing the saola is hard to change; this makes conservation difficult. The intense interest from the scientific community has actually motivated hunters to capture live specimens. Commercial logging has been stopped in the nature reserve area of Bu Huong, and there is an official ban on forest clearance within the boundaries of the reserve.
Species of conservation concern are frequently hard to study; there are often delays in implementing or identifying necessary conservation needs due to lack of data. Because the species is so rare, there is a continuous lack of adequate data; this is one of the major problems facing saola conservation. Trained scientists have never observed saola in the wild. Unfortunately, because it is unlikely that intact saola populations exist, field surveys to discover these populations are not a conservation priority.
The Saola Working Group was formed by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Species Survival Commission's Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group, in 2006 to protect the saolas and their habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
. This coalition includes about 40 experts from the forestry departments of Laos and Vietnam, Vietnam's Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vinh University, biologists and conservationists from Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
, and the World Wide Fund for Nature.
A group of scientists from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
The Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology ( vi, Viện Hàn lâm Khoa học và Công nghệ Việt Nam) is the largest and most prominent research institute in Vietnam. It was founded on 20 May 1975 as the Vietnam Academy of Science, and ren ...
in central Hanoi, within the Institute of Biotechnology, investigated a last resort effort of conserving the species by cloning, an extremely difficult approach even in the case of well-understood species.[ However, the lack of female saola donors of enucleated ]ovocyte
An oocyte (, ), oöcyte, or ovocyte is a female gametocyte or germ cell involved in reproduction. In other words, it is an immature ovum, or egg cell. An oocyte is produced in a female fetus in the ovary during female gametogenesis. The female ...
s and receptive females, as well as the interspecific barriers, greatly compromise the potential success of the cloning technique.
Culture
The mascot of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games is ''Sao La''. This design by Ngô Xuân Khôi defeated 557 other mascot submissions to emerge as the winner of the 2019 searching contest.
See also
* Leaf muntjac
The leaf muntjac, leaf deer or Putao muntjac (''Muntiacus putaoensis'') is a small species of muntjac. It was documented in 1997 by biologist Alan Rabinowitz during his field study in the isolated Nogmung Township in Myanmar. Rabinowitz discovered ...
(''Muntiacus putaoensis'')
* Truong Son muntjac
The Truong Son muntjac or Annamite muntjac (''Muntiacus truongsonensis'') is a species of muntjac deer. It is one of the smallest muntjac species, at about , half the size of the Indian muntjac (or common muntjac). It was discovered in the Truo ...
(''Muntiacus truongsonensis'')
* Giant muntjac
The giant muntjac (''Muntiacus vuquangensis''), sometimes referred to as the large-antlered muntjac, is a species of muntjac deer. It is the largest muntjac species and was discovered in 1994 in Vũ Quang, Hà Tĩnh Province of Vietnam and in ce ...
(''Muntiacus vuquangensis'')
* Annamite striped rabbit
The Annamite striped rabbit (''Nesolagus timminsi'') is a species of rabbit native to the Annamite Chain, Annamite mountain range on the Laos-Vietnam border. The rabbit is striped, with a red rump, and resembles the Sumatran striped rabbit. It on ...
(''Nesolagus timminsi'')
References
Sources
*
Further reading
* Shuker, Karl P.N. ''The New Zoo: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century'', House of Stratus, 2002
External links
Saola Foundation
savethesaola.org
Saola Working Group Website
Rare antelope-like mammal caught in Asia
at BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Images and movies of the saola ''(Pseudoryx nghetinhensis)''
at ARKive
ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the worl ...
Saola factsheet
a
Ultimate Ungulate
from the
Saola Conservation in Central Vietnam
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
{{Authority control
Bovines
Mammals described in 1993
Mammals of Laos
Mammals of Vietnam