Saola

The Saola or Vu Quang ox, also, infrequently, Vu Quang bovid (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), one of the world's rarest mammals, is a forest-dwelling bovine found only in Vietnam (Vu Quang Nature Reserve) and in Laos, near the Vietnam-Laotian border. Its name Saola means spindle-[horned]. The scientific epithet nghetinhensis refers to the two Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh while Pseudoryx acknowledges the animal's similarities with the Arabian or African oryx. The Hmong natives call this beast saht-supahp, a term derived from Lao meaning "the polite animal", because it moves quietly through the forest.

Saolas have only been known to zoologists since 1992, initially from unusual horns obtained in Vietnam. Analysis of morphology and DNA has revealed that this is a new bovine genus, related to cattle, nyala, kudu, and elands. Saolas are antelopes, in the sense that an antelope is any morphologically primitive bovine. It is not known how many individuals exist, as only 11 have been recorded alive.

In the past they were occasionally to be viewed at General Cheng's now-defunct zoo in Lak Xao, Laos.

Habitat and distribution

The saola occurs in the Annamite Range's moist forests and the Eastern Indochina dry and monsoon forests. They have been spotted in steep river valleys at about 300 to 1800 m above sea level. These regions are distant from human settlements, covered primarily in evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous woodlands. The species seems to prefer edge zones of the forests.

Saolas stay in mountain forests during the wet seasons, when water in streams and rivers is abundant, and move down to the lowlands in winter. They are shy and never enter cultivated fields or come close to villages. To date, all known captive saolas have died, leading to the belief that this species cannot live in captivity.

Description

The saola stands about 85 cm at the shoulder and weighs approximately 90 kg. The coat is a dark brown with a black stripe along the back. Its legs are darkish and there are white patches on the feet, and white stripes vertically across the cheeks, on the eyebrows and splotches on the nose and chin. All saolas have slightly backward-curved horns, which grow to half a metre in length.

Local populations report having seen saolas traveling in packs of two or three, rarely more.

Saola mark their territories by opening up a fleshy flap on their snout to reveal scent glands. They subsequently rub the underside against objects leaving a musky, pungent paste. The saolas' colossal scent glands are thought to be the largest of any living mammal.

Diet

They are reported to eat small leafy plants—especially fig leaves, and stems along rivers. Saolas generally live in small groups of less than five animals. The animal seems to have a browsing diet, considering its small incisors.

References

Shuker, Karl P.N. The New Zoo: New and Rediscovered Animals of the Twentieth Century (House of Stratus, 2002).
Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered