The saola, one of the rarest mammals on the planet, has been photographed in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years, giving hope of a recovery for the species.
The mysterious animal was caught on film in September by a camera trap set by the WWF and the Vietnamese government’s Forest Protection Department in the Central Annamite mountains. The last time a saola was captured on camera was in 1999 in the Laos province of Bolikhamxay.
The saola (pronounced: sow-la) are a cousin of cattle, but look like antelopes with two parallel horns that can reach up to 1.3m in length, and researchers believe there only to be somewhere between a couple of dozen and a few hundred of the species left, making it one of the rarest creature on earth.
Speaking on the discovery, Dr. Van Ngoc Thinh, WWF-Vietnam’s Country Director said
“When our team first looked at the photos we couldn’t believe our eyes. Saola are the holy grail for South-east Asian conservationists so there was a lot of excitement…This is a breath-taking discovery and renews hope for the recovery of the species.”
Conservationists have been trying to prevent poaching of the rare animal, and remove around 30,000 snares to create a saola reserve with “forest guards” to allow repopulation.
Dr. Barney Long, Director, Species Conservation Program, WWF said:
“This is a monumental find and comes at a critical moment in time for saola conservation…It’s a huge reward for decades of tireless work by the provincial government who established the saola reserve, community snare removal teams and WWF biologists. Now it’s time to double our efforts to recover this iconic species.”
