Unexpectedly discovered saola in Vietnam after 15 years of absence

Camera traps have captured an image of a saola, a rare animal that many consider to have vanished permanently from Vietnam, moving along the stream in the valley in a remote area of ​​the Central Mountains. Truong Son.

>>>Established saola conservation area in Thua Thien Hue

The image of a starfish is moving along a stream of a valley in a remote area of ​​the Central Truong Son Mountains of Vietnam trapped in a photograph taken in the evening of September 7

On November 13, information from the International Fund for Nature Protection (WWF) in Vietnam revealed that a rare star has been rediscovered through camera traps placed in the reserve in Quang Nam province.

Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) , one of the rarest and most endangered animal species on the planet. Saola is also known as Asian unicorn because it is rarely seen and identified after it was discovered in 1992.

In the evening of September 7, camera traps captured an image of Sao la individuals moving along a stream in a remote area of ​​the Central Truong Son mountain range of Vietnam.

'These are photos of Asia's most important wild species, possibly of the world in the past 10 years' - William Robichaud, Saola Conservation Group Coordinator of Lien's Species Conservation Committee International intelligent conservation of natural and natural resources (IUCN) said.

The first living saola was captured in 1996 in Laos.Several other individuals were arrested the following year.Unfortunately, the saola is not adaptable tocaptivity, all of these individuals die

Sao la is a new mammal species discovered in 1992 by a group of scientists from the former Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and WWF when studying forest biodiversity in the Park. National Vu Quang (Ha Tinh, Vietnam), near the border of Vietnam and Laos.

Here, the team found a skull with strange horns in a hunter's house. It is considered the first discovery of a large mammal in the world in 50 years and is one of the most amazing species discoveries of the 20th century.

After more than 20 years, the knowledge of the ecology and behavior of saola is still very limited, and the difficulty of capturing this mysterious animal has prevented scientists from making accurate estimates of species populations. Maybe about 200 or only a few dozen saola stars in the dense forest along the Vietnam - Laos border.

Saola is also known as Asian unicorn because it is rarely seen and identified after it was discovered in 1992

The last time saola was recorded in Laos in 2010. People in Bolikhamsay Province, Central Laos, captured a single saola, but the individual died later. Previously, the last time saola was recorded in nature was in 1999 at Bolikhamsay also through camera trapping.

In Vietnam, the last time an individual saola was seen in nature was in 1998.

The saola species belongs to the group of hollow horns that look like antelope with 2 pairs of parallel horns, gradually pointed towards the end and can be up to 50cm long.

Sao la is a symbol of the biodiversity of the Truong Son range running along the border of Laos and Vietnam. Along with the discovery of saola, two other species, the Giant and Truong Son, were discovered in Truong Son forests in 1994 and 1997.