The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and 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 discovery in more than 50 years, and one of the most spectacular zoological discoveries of the 20th century.

Saola is by far the largest terrestrial animal in the world (of certain existence) that has never been seen in the wild by a biologist. It remains an enigma into the 21 st century. Saola is listed as Critically Endangered (the last stop before extinction) …

The team found a skull with unusual 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 species discoveries of the 20th century.

The main threats to the saola are hunting and fragmentation of its range through habitat loss. Snares set in the forest for wild boar, sambar or barking deer, also trap saola. Locals set some snares for subsistence use and crop protection, but recent increases in lowland people hunting to supply the illegal trade in wildlife has led to a ...

Saola are one of many animals that are hunted in Vietnam and Laos for meat and hide. Locals place a high value on saola because of their scarcity. Many hunters also try to capture live saola because of their importance to the scientific community.

Multiple issues have converged to make the Saola one of the world’s most endangered mammals, but all of them are solvable. The primary threat is by hunting, rather than habitat loss. The main hunting threat comes from commercial poaching, not subsistence hunting by local people.

Multiple issues have converged to make the Saola one of the world’s most endangered mammals, but all are solvable. Saola is threatened primarily by hunting, rather than habitat loss. The main hunting threat comes from commercial poaching, not subsistence hunting by local people.

May 3, 2024 · In Viet Nam's Annamite Mountains, conservationists search for the elusive saola, hoping to save the critically endangered "Asian unicorn" from extinction.

On the border of Laos and Vietnam roams a creature so elusive that it has never been seen in the wild by a biologist. The Saola was discovered by science in 1992, after researchers came across the skull of a Saola in a hunter’s house in a remote village in Vietnam.