Saola Introduction

The saola, a forest dwelling bovine, is also known as the Asian unicorn, and it is just as elusive as its mythical counterpart. Saolas are incredibly rare, and are even considered to be the rarest large mammal in the world. They live only in a very small region on the mountainous border between Vietnam and Laos, and they evaded scientists for decades before a discovery of saola remains in 1992 alerted the scientific community of an as-yet unknown species. It took five more years before a saola was first photographed in the wild by a hidden camera trap. Saolas have been kept in captivity before, but they have ever survived for long. This is likely due to stress and an unfamiliarity with humans. Saolas are very different from any other bovids, belonging to their own order and possessing many unique characteristics. Although they may look like a goat or an ibex, they are actually more closely related to cows and oxen. Saolas are large and brown in color, with white patches in their fur that differ between individuals. Both male and female saolas have large parallel horns on the top of their heads, and which is where they get their name from. Saola means “spinning-wheel post horn” in the Tai language of Vietnam, because these horns resemble the posts on the spinning wheels used by the Vietnamese people. Saolas are at home in the broadleaf evergreen forests and wet lowlands and marshes of the Annamite mountains. Little is known about the behavior of wild saolas, although scientists have inferred that they are solitary and territorial. In captivity, saolas have been observed to bleat and call out for unknown reasons. Because there are so few saola in existence, they probably do not have a great impact on the local ecosystem. Saolas are hunted for meat and  their hides, and they are critically endangered due to this hunting as well as human encroachment onto their territory. Because they were discovered so recently, there is still much to learn about Saolas and their habits.