Image Credit: Jonathan C Eames
The Asian Unicorn
The Saola is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: the global population is estimated to be fewer than 100.
The Saola was discovered by science in 1992 and there remains no confirmed wild sighting by a biologist.
Much of what is known about Saola comes from local people, a few animals once held in captivity, and a handful of camera trap photos – it is one of the the world’s least-known large mammals.
The Saola is endemic to the tropical evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains in Lao PDR and Vietnam.
It is found nowhere else on earth.
There are no Saola in captivity, anywhere. Preventing extinction requires establishing a captive breeding population.
