Saola: the rarest artiodactyl that is on the verge of extinction

In the jungles of Vietnam and Laos, a very rare animal lives - saola. The most amazing thing is not that it is rare, unfortunately, there are more and more such animals on our planet, but that this species of artiodactyls was first discovered by scientists and described only at the end of the 20th century. Having become a grandiose scientific sensation, the saols are still little studied, and almost nothing is known about them.

Saola (Latin name Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) belongs to the family of bovids, a cloven-hoofed detachment. These animals were first discovered in tropical rainforests in Vietnam in 1992. Saols are quite large - up to 90 centimeters at the withers with a weight of about 100 kg. The length of their horns reaches 50 centimeters, the color of the skin varies from brown to dark red, and there are white marks on the muzzle.

Researchers were very surprised by the fact of finding such a large species that was previously unknown to science. Biologists began to search for new animals in the jungle, and they managed to catch a few more individuals. But, unfortunately, they all did not live in captivity for long and scientists did not manage to find out much about the lifestyle of these rare animals.

It turned out that the Saols live in the jungle, in the border areas of Laos and Vietnam, and part of their range coincides with the territory of the Vietnamese nature reserve Wu Kuang. They can climb mountains to a height of 1800 meters. The Vietnamese government passed a law banning the hunting of saol and their capture, and in the International Red Book they were given the status of a species that is on the verge of extinction.

Saols are very cautious and secretive animals, so scientists still do not know anything about their lifestyle, or about the characteristics of nutrition, reproduction or life expectancy. According to rough estimates, their number may be several hundred individuals, but this is just a guess.

However, scientists still managed to find out something. On the basis of genetic analyzes, they were able to establish that the saols belong precisely to the gentle and, most likely, are related to the bulls, despite the fact that they have little in common with them. It turns out that their closest relatives are buffaloes, as well as yaks and bison.