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Say Saola: A motion-sensitive camera snaps the rarely seen bovine. — VNS Photo Nguyen Ngoc Chinh

Scientists worry that rare Saola risks endangerment

Khanh Chi

NGHE AN — The Saola, a wild bovine animal discovered only a decade ago in remote forests of Laos and Viet Nam, is now on the brink of extinction, scientists warn.

About 100 Vietnamese, Lao and foreign scientists issued the warning last Saturday at the end of a two-day meeting called to develop a Saola protection plan and held in central Nghe An Province’s Pu Mat National Park, home to about 20 Saola.

"We organised the workshop because more effort needs to be directed at saving the Saola. And we need to build public awareness of the animals quickly," said conservation director of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) Mike Baltzer.

Participants at the workshop, co-sponsored by the WWF, World Conservation Union (IUCN), and the Social Forestry and Nature Conservation, agreed to expand research projects, establish more nature reserves, and raise public awareness of the Saola, now listed on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Decorative discovery

Vi Thi Nam holds a Saola skull. — VNS Photo Khanh Chi

When Vi Thi Nam of Nghe An’s Mon Son Commune bought a mounted pair of horns four years ago, she thought they were deer antlers.

"I didn’t know it was rare when I bought it. I thought it would look so nice in my living room," Nam said.

She bought the horns from a villager for VND100,000, but did not realise they were the rare Saola until local authorities began to publicise their small herd in nearby Pu Mat National Park.

Another set of horns sparked the Saola’s scientific discovery. While surveying the now Vu Quang Nature Reserve of central Ha Tinh Province in 1992, Vietnamese zoologist Professor Do Tuoc stopped by a hunter’s house and noticed a singular set of horns hanging on the wall.

"As soon as I saw the strange pair of horns, I thought it could be a new species," Tuoc said. "If the horns belonged to a deer, they would have been short and curved." Saola horns are long, straight and tapered.

Residents living near the Vu Quang Reserve named the animal after the wooden posts supporting a cotton loom.

Tuoc’s work was applauded by the IUCN as one of the most remarkable zoological discoveries of the 20th century.

Scientists have found it living in patches along the Truong Son range in Viet Nam and Sai Phou Luoang in Laos. In Viet Nam, it resides in the central provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam.

Mike Baltzer, of the WWF, said it was impossible to say exactly how many Saola’s live in Viet Nam and Laos; rough counts range from 70 to 1,000 animals.

The Saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is the only member of its genus, and initial genetic analysis categorised it as part of the bovidea family which includes the cow, buffalo and goat.

However, scientists have yet to conduct a thorough analysis because the shy animal evades their research efforts.

"It is difficult to approach the animals because they are shy and hide in bushes and live on rough terraces," said Nguyen Ngoc Chinh, a former planning specialist at the Natural Conversation and Community Development Centre.

"Usually, it takes me at least two months or more to photograph the Saola using a motion-sensitive camera trap," he said.

Despite its size – some can weigh up to 100kg and stand 90cm-tall – Saola sightings are rare, and the animal was photographed for the first time in October 1998 in Pu Mat National Park in Con Cuong District.

Shrinking species

Even though in some urban markets Saola horns sell for US$25-65, most fetch low prices and therefore poachers consider them unprofitable.

Nonetheless, the greatest threat to Saola s are hunters’ traps, set for other wild animals – bear, muntjacs, sambars, porcupines – but placed in Saolas’ habitats, Baltzer said.

Efforts to breed them in captivity have failed. "Whenever we have tried to take a Saola out of its habitat, it has died within a month, some even within 18 days or a week," said Baltzer.

He called on the public to help save the animals, especially in areas with known Saola populations like the Truong Son Range.

"The Saola is rare because it is small in number and found in very few places," he said.

Baltzer and the workshop’s participants recommended a boost in international co-operation to improve the living standards of people living near Saola in an effort to curb the poaching trade. — VNS