The saola was discovered in May 1992 during a joint survey carried out by the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam and WWF in north-central Vietnam. The team found a skull with unusual long, straight horns in a hunter’s home and knew it was something extraordinary.
How was the saola discovered?
Map data provided by IUCN. The saola was discovered in May 1992 during a joint survey carried out by the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam and WWF in north-central Vietnam. The team found a skull with unusual long, straight horns in a hunter’s home and knew it was something extraordinary.
So, when was the first saola photographed?
A living wild saola was first photographed in 1999 by a camera trap set by WWF and the Vietnamese government’s Forest Protection Department. In May 1992, the Ministry of Forestry, Vietnam sent a survey team to examine the biodiversity of the newly established Vu Quang National Park.
How was the saola discovered in Vietnam?
The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) was discovered as skeletal remains in May of 1992 by surveyors from the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam and the World Wildlife Fund who were mapping the Vu Quang Nature Reserve of north-central Vietnam. At the time of its discovery, the saola was the first large mammal new to science since the 1940s.
With its unusually long horns and white markings on the face, the saola is a strong symbol for biodiversity in Lao and Vietnam. Saola are often caught in snares set in the forest for wild boar, sambar or muntjac deer.
How many times have scientists documented saola in the wild?
Scientists have categorically documented saola in the wild on only four occasions to date. Map data provided by IUCN. The saola was discovered in May 1992 during a joint survey carried out by the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam and WWF in north-central Vietnam.
What is the scientific name for a saola?
For typhoons named Saola, see Typhoon Saola. 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.
The Saola was only discovered in 1992 and since then has only been photographed three times in the wild. They are known as the ‘Asian Unicorns’. The Saola, pronounced sow-la, meaning ‘spindle horns’ in Vietnamese, is found in only one place in the world: the Annamite Mountains forests on the border between Vietnam and Laos.