 Eaten:
one of the few-remaining saola
WWF
Photo © WWF-Canon / David Hulse
The death of one
of Vietnam's few-remaining saola (Pseudoryx
nghetinhensis; also known as Vu Quang ox)
was confirmed last month
when police from Hien District in northern Quang
Nam province
uncovered fresh saola meat being consumed in A'Tep
village, Bhalle
commune, in the far north of the province.
Only discovered
by scientists in 1992, little is known about this
straight-horned mammal, except that it is extremely
unique and could
be on the brink of extinction. Estimates have
put the total
population of saola at between 70-1000 individuals,
restricted to an
area of around 4,000 square kilometres in forests
of the Truong Son
mountains along the Vietnam-Laos border.
The area where the
saola was caught is thought to be one of only
a
handful of remaining strongholds for the species,
and the loss of
even a single saola constitutes a significant
blow to the potential
survival of the population in the area, as well
as to the species as
a whole.
A survey team from
WWF Indochina and the Quang Nam Forest Protection
Department had recently visited a neighbouring
commune to conduct
biological research into the wildlife of the area.
The team found
that the area's saola population already appeared
to be in a more
serious condition than was previously expected.
Local people said
that saola are extremely rare and are seldom encountered
or snared
in the forest these days. Indeed in one village,
a steady decline in
the rate of capture was evident in the display
of skulls from past
hunting trips.
However, the future
is not totally bleak for the saola. Unlike many
species, it does not hold particular medicinal
values and as such is
not as highly prized as other rare species such
as tiger. "Hunters
do not tend to target saola as it is simply not
economically viable
to do so, the main cause of depletion is thought
to be by accidental
capture in snares" said Mike Baltzer
from the WWF Indochina
Programme. As a result, conservationists hope
that " with increased
awareness and national pride about such a beautiful,
unique and
threatened animal" there could be a light
at the end of the tunnel
for the saola.
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