Saola may be slipping to extinction unnoticed

Saola still a mystery 20 years after its spectacular debut
May 2012. Two decades after the sensational discovery of a new ungulate species called the saola, this rare animal remains as mysterious and elusive as ever. WWF, the Saola Working Group (SWG) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) warn the species is sliding towards extinction because of intensive hunting pressure and poor reserve management. 


A cousin of cattle but antelope-like in appearance, the saola was discovered in 1992 by a joint team from Vietnam's Ministry of Forestry and WWF surveying the forests of Vu Quang, near Vietnam's border with Laos. The team found a skull with unusual long, straight horns in a hunter's home and knew it was something extraordinary. The find proved to be the first large mammal new to science in more than 50 years and one of the most spectacular zoological discoveries of the 20th century.


One was captured in 2010
Twenty years on, little is still known about the saola's ecology or behaviour. In 2010, villagers in the central Laos province of Bolikhamxay captured a saola, but the animal died several days later. Prior to that, the last confirmed record of a saola in the wild was in 1999 from camera-trap photos in Bolikhamxay.

"Saola are extremely secretive and very seldom seen," said Nick Cox, Manager of WWF-Greater Mekong's Species Programme. "While they inhabit a very restricted range, there is still no reported sighting of a saola in the wild by a scientist, and the handful of saola that have been taken into captivity have not survived."

Probably 200 alive at most
The difficulty in detecting the animal has prevented scientists from making a precise population estimate. "If things are good, there may be a couple of hundred saola out there," said William Robichaud, Coordinator of the Saola Working Group. "If things are bad, the population could now be down in the tens." 


Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/saola-extinction.html