Newsletter

Newsletters

• 16th April 2024
  It is with great sadness that we announce the resignation of Board member and Co-Founder, Bill Robichaud, from the Saola Foundation. Bill has been intimately involved in the growth and success of our organization from the very start, guiding us with his passion and unwavering commitment to Saola
• 18th March 2024: Dear Friends of Saola
  We trust those who joined our seminar with Vatsana last month found it exciting and informative. Now, we are delighted to bring you another engaging experience with another Lao woman working on wildlife conservation, Saturday, March 23 (see local times and registration link
• 17th February 2024
  On a recent call with several of our major supporters, Jack Tordoff, the Managing Director of a major global initiative, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (www.cepf.net), expressed the view that the Saola Foundation is “the best team that’s ever been assembled for a conservation initiative in Southeast Asia”. We are humbled by and grateful for Jack’s high praise. After all our hard
• 20th December 2023
  Our 2023 holiday card features the marvelous work of the Saola Foundation’s expedition photographer, Souksamlan Laladeth, aka “Toun”. Toun photographed these beautiful amphibians and reptiles in the Saola’s range in the Annamite Mountains of Lao PDR. They are a snapshot of the diversity of life we are working the protect with Saola at the
• 10th November 2023
  We are excited to bring you an interview with two of our stellar technical partners, Aimee Hurt of Working Dogs for Conservation and Paul Bunker of Chiron K9. Paul and Aimee recently spent nearly a month with their dogs and our team in Laos. In this interview, they share their insights from the field, and discuss the innovative potential of sign detection dogs to help save rare wildlife species,
• Saola Tracks, September 5, 2023: Welcome to a new Saola Gold Circle member!
  We are delighted to introduce and welcome Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong (OPCFHK) as the newest member of our esteemed Saola Gold Circle. The Saola Gold Circle honors supporters who donate at least $50,000 within one year to the Saola Foundation’s conservation efforts. Ocean Park’s mission is to advocate for and contribute to effective conservation of wildlife in Asia, and
• Saola Tracks, July 2023: World Saola Day!
  Happy World Saola Day! Today, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who have been part of our incredible journey so far. Since World Saola Day last year, we’ve been hard at work assembling our dedicated Saola Search Team. And now, we’re thrilled to announce that we have a fully
• Saola Tracks, June 2023: Board Update and Exciting New Members of the Team!
  We are excited to share updates of the Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountains Conservation, in particular the addition of many new members to our
• Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountains Conservation 2022 Annual Report
  Dear Friends of Saola, We are delighted to share with you the Saola Foundation’s 2022 Annual Report, which you can
• Two weeks from today! “How wildlife trackers will bring the world’s oldest science to the cutting-edge effort to find and save Saola”
  Wildlife tracking, the art of identifying animal tracks and signs and following their trails to find them, has been called the oldest science. Cultures throughout history have practiced wildlife tracking for food and safety. Only the best trackers came home consistently and safely with food for their people – evidence of
• Saola Tracks, February 8, 2023:  Seminar Talks
  We are delighted to announce our next series of winter/spring seminar talks, offered free and presented live on Zoom. For this next series, we bring you stories of the fascinating work of some of our technical partners. First up, on Saturday, February 25, 2023 will be: “From Mount Everest to the Annamite Mountains:
• Happy Holidays 2022!
  A fig tree in fruit – nothing is more evocative of a Christmas tree in the tropical forests of the Saola’s range, for the abundant gifts of food it provides to many animals. The Saola Foundation is also a bit like a forest fig, through our mission to help a diversity of wildlife in the Annamite Mountains. We are deeply
• Saola Tracks, December 3, 2022:  Get something nice, and save a Saola this Christmas!
  Time to think about holiday gifts? Look no further! Get something nice for you and your loved ones, and save a Saola this Christmas! Thanks to some creative and dynamic
• Saola Tracks, November 30, 2022: Dispatch and some exciting updates from Lao
  Sabaidee! (or, ‘Greetings!’ in English), This month, the entire senior team of the Saola Foundation rendezvoused in Lao: Technical Director Rob Timmins, CEO Lorraine Scotson, President Bill Robichaud, and Lao Programs Director Chanthasone Phommachanh (“Olay”). For most of us, it was our first trip back since the pandemic unfolded, and we have signficant
•  Saola Tracks #15: Much Exciting News To Share
  Dear Friends of Saola, We are thrilled to share news of some significant developments in our mission to help find and save the Saola. Introducing the Saola Gold Partnership, and a major new supporter The staff and Board of Directors of the Saola Foundation have given great consideration to meaningful and impactful ways to attract the
• Saola Tracks #14: Happy World Saola Day! And Some Exciting Announcements
  Dear Friends of Saola, July 9 marks World Saola Day! On this occasion, we send our best wishes, and sincere thanks for all your support. We have some good news to share to mark the day, and we also ask your help. We’ve made outstanding progress in the less than two years since we launched the Saola Foundation.
• Saola Tracks #13: Welcome to a New Member of Our Advisory Council, Afield With Our Partners
  Dear Friends of Saola, Last week The Ellen Fund, the wildlife conservation charity of entertainer Ellen DeGeneres, highlighted the Saola Foundation and our Lao Programs Manager, Olay, in a video they produced and posted to their Instagram account (@theellenfund). Check it out here!  Eric Barrão Ruivo Welcome to a new member of our Advisory Council We
• Saola Tracks #12: Welcome to New Members Our Team! And Please Join Us This Saturday for Our Next Live Webinar, Peoples of the Annamites
  Dear Friends of Saola, As the Saola Foundation continues to ramp up our activity to help save Saola (and its home of the Annamite Mountains), with your support we have added to our team, after thorough searches, some outstanding new members. We are most pleased to let them introduce themselves to you: Xaisavanh Khiewvongphachan Xaisavanh Khiewvongphachan (“Xai”);
• Saola Tracks #11: A new Saola Foundation video, Saola in the news, and remembering some conservation giants
  Dear Friends of Saola, The year has barely begun, yet we already have a number of good things to share about Saola, especially regarding our efforts to bring global attention to this crucial conservation endeavor. 2022 is off to a most promising start for Saola, and your continued support this year will be so important for us.   First,
• Saola Tracks #10: Holiday Wishes, And Year In Review
  All of us at the Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountains Conservation send heartfelt thanks for your support this past year to Saola conservation. Pulling together, with a touch of magic, we are getting this done! Dear Friends of Saola, We have much to celebrate this holiday season at the Saola Foundation –  with you behind
• Have A Look & A Listen: Revealed, The Next Extraordinary Items In Our “Find A Saola” Auction…
  Dear Friends of Saola, We invite you to enjoy a new podcast episode about Saola, by Czech conservationist Veronika Perková, including an extensive interview with Saola Foundation Bill Robichaud. Tune in here. As the podcast makes clear, the Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountains Conservation is preparing to embark on one of the most important searches
• Saola Tracks #9: New Auction, new artists
  Dear Friends of Saola, We are delighted to announce, coming later this month, the Saola Foundation’s next online benefit auction. We’ve put together something quite special for you  – we’ve engaged a small group of fantastic artists to each contribute an original Saola or Asian themed work of art, made exclusively for the auction.  The auction will run
• Upcoming Event: Bears Of The Annamites
  Dear Friends of Saola, On Saturday, October 30 please join the Saola Foundation’s CEO, Dr. Lorraine Scotson, for a fascinating and entertaining live webinar on the lives of bears (and of a bear biologist!) in the Annamite Mountains. Two species of bear live in the Annamites, Sun Bear and Asiatic Black Bear, and both have been hard hit by the
• Saola Tracks #8: Why Saola still has time (and so says Leonardo), a welcome, some thank-you’s, job openings, and other news
  Dear Friends of Saola,  We are pleased to share the following news from Saola conservation and the Saola Foundation: IUCN releases an important Position Statement on Saola (and Leonardo di Caprio weighs in with a word). Welcome(!) to a new member of the Saola Foundation’s Board of Directors. Major new support from Synchronicity Earth, Prague Zoo, Eleanor
• Saola Tracks #7: World Saola Day
  Dear friends of Saola, Greetings on a fine summer day in Denmark. Today, July 9, marks World Saola Day. Some borders in Europe have recently opened, and for the past couple of days I’ve been visiting two founding supporters of the Saola Foundation in Denmark, Givskud Zoo Zootopia and Odense Zoo. Both are extraordinarily beautiful
• Saola Tracks #6: CEPF Grant, Welcome Brooke, Farewell Do Tuoc
  Dear friends of Saola,  The Saola Foundation for Annamite Mountains Conservation is preparing to launch one of the most intensive and important searches of our time for a wild animal – for the last Saolas in the Annamite forests of Lao PDR.  Toward this end, we are delighted to announce that we will be the recipient
• Upcoming Events: Endangered: Short Tales for the Nearly Forgotten, Why Saola still exists, and how to find them (announcement)
  Dear Friends of Saola, This month, a group of award-winning actors in collaboration with Los Angeles Zoo, the University of Montana, and the environmental news website Mongabay launched a new podcast, “Endangered: Short Tales for the Nearly Forgotten.” The program celebrates species that are highly threatened yet little known. It is written, directed and produced
• Saola Tracks #5: Lao New Year Pi Mai, Annual Report
  Dear Friends of Saola, This week, April 14, 15, 16, marks Lao New Year, Pi Mai. By custom, yesterday, the 14th, was the last day of the old year, today is an in between day of ‘no year’, and the third day of the celebration, tomorrow, marks the first day of the new year. We
• The Saola in Lao and Vietnamese Culture (video)
  Dear friends of Saola, Last Saturday’s online presentation by Saola Foundation Bill Robichaud, on “The Saola in Lao and Vietnamese Culture”, went very well, with about 100 in attendance, and a lively Q&A afterwards. If you weren’t able to participate, and would like to watch a video of the talk, you’ll find it by clicking
• The Saola in Lao and Vietnamese Culture (announcement)
  Dear friends of Saola, We are delighted to offer and announce a presentation by the Saola Foundation’s President Bill Robichaud, March 27, about some fascinating aspects of Saola in the cultures of Lao and Vietnam. Although Saola first came to the attention of scientists and the outside world only in 1992, local people in the