Untitled Document
 For
the first time in 15 years, the world was able to get a glimpse of
the saola, one of the rarest mammals on Earth. Back in September,
a camera placed in a forest in central Vietnam managed to take a photo
of the mysterious animal, which is also called the Asian unicorn.
The photograph shows the antelope-like, long-horned ox walking through
the forest.
“This is a breathtaking discovery and renews hope for the recovery
of the species,” said Van Ngoc Thinh, Vietnam’s director of the WWF,
a conservation group.
Since the photograph was taken, WWF said it has recruited forest guards
to help remove snares and combat illegal hunting, which is the greatest
threat to saolas. The snares were placed by villagers to catch other
animals, such as deer and wild boar.
Scientists first discovered the mammal in 1992 in remote mountains
near Laos. However, not much is known about the saola. They are hard
to detect and are rarely seen in the wild. The last sighting of a
saola was in 1998, according to Dang Dinh Nguyen, director of a saola
nature reserve in central Vietnam. The WWF recently estimated that
only a few dozen are left in the wild. They live in the remote forests
along Vietnam’s border with Laos. |
Staff
reporter Jessica Kim
(jessicakim@timescore.co.kr) |
|
|
|
