Several photos of the Sao La, one of the rarest and most threatenedmammals on the planet, were made public in Dong Hoi City, the centralprovince of Quang Binh on August 13 by the Viet Nature ConservationCentre and the Quang Binh provincial Department of Forest Rangers,according to the Sai Gon Giai phong daily.
Thephotos, which featured two individual Sao La, were taken by camera trapset at the Dong Chau forest in Khe Nuoc Trong area, Le Thuy district,Quang Binh province in 2012 and 2013. Nine photos taken on July 14, 2012captured the image of an adult Sao La, while a single photo on June 8,2013 showed a young animal estimated at more than one year old.
In November last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) alsoannounced photos of the animal which were taken on September 7that year by a camera trap set by the WWF and central Quang Namprovince’s Forest Protection Department in a hard-to-reach area onTruong Son range in the province.
Theanimal (known as Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), dubbed the Asian Unicornbecause it is so rarely seen, looks like an antelope in appearance, andis recognised by two parallel horns with sharp ends which can reach 50centimetres in length.
The species wasdiscovered in 1992 by a joint team from Vietnam’s Ministry ofForestry (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and theWorld Wide Fund for Nature during a trip surveying the forests of VuQuang in Ha Tinh province, near Vietnam’s border with Laos.
Scientists estimate about 200 Sao La, maybe only a few tens, nowsurvive in the remote, dense forests along the Vietnam-Laos border.-VNA
Thephotos, which featured two individual Sao La, were taken by camera trapset at the Dong Chau forest in Khe Nuoc Trong area, Le Thuy district,Quang Binh province in 2012 and 2013. Nine photos taken on July 14, 2012captured the image of an adult Sao La, while a single photo on June 8,2013 showed a young animal estimated at more than one year old.
In November last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) alsoannounced photos of the animal which were taken on September 7that year by a camera trap set by the WWF and central Quang Namprovince’s Forest Protection Department in a hard-to-reach area onTruong Son range in the province.
Theanimal (known as Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), dubbed the Asian Unicornbecause it is so rarely seen, looks like an antelope in appearance, andis recognised by two parallel horns with sharp ends which can reach 50centimetres in length.
The species wasdiscovered in 1992 by a joint team from Vietnam’s Ministry ofForestry (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and theWorld Wide Fund for Nature during a trip surveying the forests of VuQuang in Ha Tinh province, near Vietnam’s border with Laos.
Scientists estimate about 200 Sao La, maybe only a few tens, nowsurvive in the remote, dense forests along the Vietnam-Laos border.-VNA
