Saola is threatened primarily by hunting, rather than habitat loss . The main hunting threat comes from commercial poaching, not subsistence hunting by local people . In Southeast Asia, most endangered species of wildlife are threatened by targeted offtake for the wildlife trade, either for bushmeat or traditional Asian medicine.
The next thing we wanted the answer to was: why is the saola endangered?
Some authors claimed with saola being critically endangered , their small, dispersed population means that genetic inbreeding, loss of heterozygosity, skewed sex ratios and the difficult of male and females to find each other to mate means that the threat to the survival of the saola is growing. What is being done?
This begs the inquiry “Why are saola going extinct?”
Multiple issues have converged to make the Saola one of the world’s most endangered mammals, but all are solvable . Saola is threatened primarily by hunting, rather than habitat loss. The main hunting threat comes from commercial poaching, not subsistence hunting by local people.
When we were researching we ran into the inquiry “Is saola endangered species?”.
Our answer is that saola is listed as Critically Endangered (the last stop before extinction) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Zoological Society of London includes Saola in its global Top 100 (ranked at #44) of Evolutionarily Distinct & Globally Endangered (EDGE) species.
Are saola going extinct?
“Only recently discovered, saola are already extremely threatened .
Another common inquiry is “Why are conservationists worried about saola hunting?”.
Conservationists are concerned that this is allowing hunters easy access to the once untouched forest of the saola and may reduce genetic diversity in the future. “Only recently discovered, saola are already extremely threatened.
Will the saola population drift to extinction?
The results of an preliminary Population Viability Analysis, conducted by the Saola Working Group at its meeting in November, 2015, indicate that even if immediate cessation of all hunting threats could be achieved, it is likely that all Saola subpopulations would drift to extinction in the next 10 to 15 years.
What are the main threats to the saola?
The main threats which face the Saola are: 1 Restrictive habitat requirements 2 Aversion to human proximity – this is one of the major keys for Saola populations as they like remoteness from human 3 Habitat loss 4 Habitat fragmentation 5 Trophy Hunting More.
The added pressure from rapid and large-scale infrastructure in the region is also fragmenting saola habitat . Conservationists are concerned that this is allowing hunters easy access to the once untouched forest of the saola and may reduce genetic diversity in the future. “Only recently discovered, saola are already extremely threatened.
Saola is now distributed in several isolated, small subpopulations . These subpopulations are now probably small enough to be threatened further by other affects, such as genetic inbreeding and loss of heterozygosity, skewed sex ratios, and difficulty of isolated males and females to find each other for mating.
Conservation biologists based in four countries, met in Vientiane, Lao PDR, last month, and agreed that Saola numbers appear to have declined sharply since its discovery in 1992, when it was already rare and restricted to a small range.
How much of the saola habitat has been searched for?
According to the IUCN, only about 30% of potential Saola habitat has had any form of wildlife survey and potentially as little as 2% has been searched intensively for the species.
Our answer is that Map data provided by IUCN. The saola was discovered in May 1992 during a joint survey carried out by the Ministry of Forestry of Vietnam and WWF in north-central Vietnam. The team found a skull with unusual long, straight horns in a hunter’s home and knew it was something extraordinary.
Are saolas dangerous to dogs?
From what we learnt from Robichard, saolas are thought to be tame amongst humans but very distressed by dogs . These rare beauties are Critically Endangered.