'Asian unicorn' at risk of extinction from poaching, WWF warns

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/21/asian-unicorn-extinction-poaching



An 'Asian unicorn' or saola caught on a camera-trapped in Bolikhamxay Province, central Laos in 1999. Photograph: William Robichaud/WWF International


Poaching in Vietnam and Laos may be driving the "Asian unicorn" to extinction, warns the WWF on the twentieth anniversary of its discovery.

The saola is an antelope-like reclusive species that lives in remote regions of the Annamite mountains on the border of Vietnam and Laos, dubbed the Asian Unicorn because it is so rarely seen. It came to worldwide attention in 1992 as the first large mammal to be discovered in over 50 years when surveyors from the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the WWF found skulls of the unknown species in mountain villages. DNA tests have indicated it is a bovine related to cattle, though it resembles a wild goat or antelope with two parallel horns found on both males and females.

Now the WWF and conservation groups say populations of the saola is dropping. Estimates of the current saola population range from 10 to several hundred. A 2009 meeting of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) concluded that the species population has dropped precipitously, and the saola remains on its list of critically endangered species.

While the WWF does not know the exact population number of the saola, WWF Asian species expert Barney Long said there are indications the population is likely dropping. Interviews with communities have indicated sightings of the saola have dropped over the past 20 years. Poaching in the Annamite mountains has also reached epidemic levels, and though the saola is not sought after by hunters, the horned beast is nevertheless caught in their snares.