Unicorn is a legendary horse-shaped creature with one horn on its forehead. And the animal blood was said to be a panacea and can make a person live forever. Meanwhile, the existence of unicorns has not been proven scientifically, but 'its twin' which has two horns recently caught on camera in Vietnam. |
| The female saola, pictured in Laos in 1996, is known as the 'Asian Unicorn' (Picture from: from: http://www.abc.net.au/) |
The Cameras placed in remote forest areas capture one of the rarest mammals on the Earth. One thing that makes environmentalists are very excited. Because the saola population in the wild is estimated at hundreds, or perhaps just dozens. So scarce and hard to catch, the animal was dubbed as the 'Asian unicorn'. Moreover, the two animals that both have horns, although the amount is not equal.
"It was a photograph wildlife foremost taken in Asia and perhaps in the world, at least in the last decade," said William Robichaud, coordinator of the Saola Working Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission, in the release issued by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
"This is a historic moment for Vietnam in the efforts to preserve biodiversity," said Dang Dinh Nguyen of Quang Nam Forest Protection Department, as reported by CNN, on November 13, 2013.
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| A camera trap photo taken on Sept. 7, 2013, shows a single saola moving along a rocky forest valley stream in a remote corner of the Central Annamite mountains of Vietnam. (Picture from: http://www.livescience.com/) |
The saola photo was taken in September, 2013. director of Vietnam's WWF, Van Ngoc Thinh said the findings are very valuable. "When I first saw the photo, we do not believe what we see. Saola are the holy grail for Southeast Asian conservationists so there was a lot of excitement. This is a breath-taking discovery and renews hope for the recovery of the species," he said further.
Saola are close relatives of cattle, but looks like a deer. It first found in 1992 in the forests on the border of Vietnam and Laos. The WWF survey team found the its skeleton in the house of hunter. In Vietnam, last saola been seen in the wild was in 1998. While in Laos in 1999. In 2010, villagers in the Laos province of Bolikhamxay caught a saola, but the animal died shortly after capture.
Environmentalists argue, the latest saola photo is proof that the unique animal rescue effort succeeded. "Previously saola entangled wires mounted hunter traps to catch other animals such as deer and squirrels," said Van. "Since 2011, our forest guards patrol was get rid of more than 30 thousand traps in the habitats of threatened saola and also has struck 600 poachers camp." *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WWF | CNN | ABC | LIVESCIENCE]
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