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saola
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The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is a forest-dwelling bovid native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was first described in 1993 following a discovery of remains in Vũ Quang National Park by a joint survey of the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature, 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 saola is a rare, forest-dwelling bovid native to the mountainous border region between Vietnam and Laos that was first discovered in 1993 and is sometimes called the "Asian unicorn." It matters because of its extreme rarity and conservation status, though attempts to study it in captivity have been unsuccessful, as captured saolas have consistently died within weeks to months.
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14 sectionsContents
- History of research and taxonomy
- Etymology
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Ecology and behaviour
- Diet
- Reproduction
- Conservation
- Culture
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The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is a forest-dwelling bovid native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was first described in 1993 following a discovery of remains in Vũ Quang National Park by a joint survey of the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature, Saolas have since been kept in captivity multiple times, although only for short periods as they died within a matter of weeks to months.
Saola live in restricted areas of high-altitude wet evergreen forest and have probably always had a relatively low population density. 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, which represents the most recent record of the saola. The saola is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, being heavily threatened by snares intended to trap other animals within their forest habitat and to a lesser extent habitat destruction, with an estimated population of 50-300 individuals as of 2015. There is concern that the species may already be extinct, and even if individuals are still alive, extinction has been described as "inevitable" within 10 years from 2025 without intervention.