The saola has only been recorded in the wild a handful of times by scientists since its discovery -- most recently in November 2013 camera trap photos that gave renewed hope for its survival after 15 years since the last photographic evidence. It is threatened by poaching snares and destruction of its habitat from illegal logging. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) designated the saola “critically endangered” on the  IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ in 2006. 

Saola experts from around the world are urging the Governments of Vietnam and Laos, along with conservationists and corporations, to rally and commit to saving a species that is on the brink. WWF-Vietnam is also launching the “Save Saola” campaign in order to provide a platform to raise awareness and increase commitment from both the public and private sectors in saola conservation. Numerous conservation organizations and donors, representing some of the world’s most experienced conservationists and biologists, work year round on collaborations to save the saola under the banner of the Saola Working Group, part of the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.  

“The saola symbolizes everything that’s at stake for us. If we can save it, we can save our forests, wildlife and the ecosystem services such as freshwater that the people living here depend upon. So for us, this is not just a fight to save one endangered species. It is a fight to save what it represents,” said Dr. Van Ngoc Thinh, WWF-Vietnam’s Country Director.

Descended from mammals that roamed the planet during the last Ice Age, the saola was only discovered by science in 1992, when a survey team from Vietnam’s Ministry of Forestry and WWF found a skull with long and unusually graceful horns in a hunter’s home and knew immediately that it was something they had never seen before. It would later prove to be one of the most spectacular zoological finds of the 20^th Century: the first large mammal genus new to science in more than 50 years. 

“The saola may now be the most endangered large mammal in the world. With luck, we have a small window left in which to save it – but to do so we must work urgently, creatively, and with collaboration,” said William Robichaud, Founding Coordinator of the Saola Working Group of IUCN and Saola Programme Coordinator of Global Wildlife Conservation.

The saola resembles an antelope but is actually a member of the cattle family. The biggest threat today is poaching to supply the burgeoning demand in China and other newly affluent Asian countries for rare species – both for supposed medicinal uses and for exotic main courses at expensive restaurants. Although saola is not the target, it falls victim to the criminal gangs of poachers who seek to profit from the diverse wildlife in Annamite Mountains. Accidentally caught in snares intended for other species, saola can be left hanging upside down until they die of starvation or thirst. 

Habitat fragmentation and destruction caused by poorly planned development and illegal logging is the other main threat. River banks cloaked in natural vegetation and mist-shrouded forests are the saola’s preferred feeding grounds, and both are being bulldozed, flooded and severed by infrastructure projects such as dams and the conversion of forest habitat into commercial crop land.

“The saola may be small in stature but its importance to conservation in Laos and Vietnam is huge,” said Mr. Somphone Bouasavanh, Country Director, WWF-Laos. “We have an opportunity and a responsibility to ensure that the saola and its forest home survive, using cutting edge science, the world’s leading conservationists and cooperation across borders.”

Amongst the early efforts to combat such threats, saola protected areas were established in 2007 in the provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue with support from WWF-Vietnam. Under the Carbon and Biodiversity (CarBi) Project – supported by the German Development Bank KfW -- they have since grown into a network of protected areas across the saola’s core range in Vietnam and Laos, covering more than 200,000 hectares of Annamite forests. The forest guards WWF-Vietnam recruited from local villages had by the end of 2015 removed 75,295 snare traps and dismantled 1,000 poaching and illegal logging camps.

Despite heroic efforts from forest guards, the level of poaching and snaring remains high in saola habitat, threatening its future survival. If the saola is to survive in the wild, improved transboundary protected areas and increasing collaboration between Vietnam and Laos are urgently needed to protect the remaining intact forest and prevent poaching. In addition, demand reduction programmes for wild meat and medicinal needs, especially in Vietnam, could reduce the poaching pressure that leads to saola deaths.

One solution being discussed by the Saola Working Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Governments of Vietnam and Lao PDR is a captive breeding programme. The goal is to provide an “insurance” population for re-introduction should the saola become extinct in the wild. World-renowned experts in captive breeding and care of species like saola would be recruited to ensure the captured saola have the best chance to survive and breed.

Notes: A Storymap about the history and conservation of Saola can be found at: http://arcg.is/29qfr1u

About WWF Greater Mekong 

The Greater Mekong (Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos) is home to some of the planet’s most endangered wild species, including the tiger, saola, Asian elephant, Mekong dolphin and Mekong giant catfish. Over 2,216 new species have been found in the Greater Mekong since 1997. WWF-Greater Mekong’s mission is a future where humans live in harmony with nature. To learn more about WWF’s activities: www.panda.org/greatermekong

About IUCN Species Survival Commission Saola Working Group

The Saola Working Group (SWG) is part of the Asian Wild Cattle Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). The SWG was formed in 2006 in recognition of the need for urgent, coordinated action to save the saola from extinction. We held our first biennial meeting in 2009. In addition to being the main driver of saola conservation in Laos and Vietnam, the SWG advocates for conservation of the globally significant Annamite Mountains as a whole. Find out more at: www.savethesaola.org