The Saola is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, which means it faces “an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild”. With none in zoos and almost nothing known about how to maintain them in captivity, for Saola, extinction in the wild would mean its extinction everywhere, with no possibility of recovery and reintroduction.
Another frequently asked question is “Is the saola on the verge of extinction?”.
Twenty-five years later, it is on the verge of extinction (4 ). Although precise population estimates are not possible, the Saola Working Group, part of the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, estimated in 2015 that fewer than 100 saola survive (5).
Saola is threatened primarily by hunting, rather than habitat loss. The main hunting threat comes from commercial poaching, not subsistence hunting by local people. In Southeast Asia, most endangered species of wildlife are threatened by targeted offtake for the wildlife trade, either for bushmeat or traditional Asian medicine.
Should the saola be kept in zoos?
With none in zoos and almost nothing known about how to maintain them in captivity, for Saola, extinction in the wild would mean its extinction everywhere, with no possibility of recovery and reintroduction. The Saola is threatened primarily by hunting.
Where did the saola come from?
This note is re-printed here and first appeared in Science, volume 357, page 1248. The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis)—a primitive wild cattle species (1) endemic to the Annamite mountain range of Vietnam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)—was first discovered in 1992 (2, 3).
The added pressure from rapid and large-scale infrastructure in the region is also fragmenting saola habitat. Conservationists are concerned that this is allowing hunters easy access to the once untouched forest of the saola and may reduce genetic diversity in the future. “Only recently discovered, saola are already extremely threatened.
How many Saola are there in the world?
Its wild population may number only in the dozens, certainly not more than a few hundred. ” The Saola is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, which means it faces “an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild”.
Commonly referred to as the Asian unicorn, the saola has rarely been seen alive since its discovery and so is already considered critically endangered. Scientists have categorically documented saola in the wild on only four occasions to date.