Search for saola in Laos may halt due to lack of funding — Mongabay
The search for saola in the Annamite Mountains in Laos is at risk of being halted due to funding cuts. Funding for the team's work in October came primarily from donations by several zoos, but the Saola Foundation continues to seek funding for the following months, Mongabay reports.
According to Saola Foundation CEO Lorraine Scotson, the team leaves the forest every year in July for the rainy season. Due to the sharp budget reduction, the organization could not confirm that researchers would return to the forest in October. The search effort now depends on funding virtually month by month.
Search for an animal with no confirmed sightings since 2013
The saola, or Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, is a member of the bovine family that scientists discovered only in 1992. The species inhabits the Annamite Mountains in Laos, Vietnam and a small part of Cambodia. Scotson estimates that fewer than 50 individuals may remain in the wild, while the last confirmed evidence of the animal's existence was a camera-trap photograph taken in 2013.
The foundation launched a search expedition in Laos in 2025. It involved experienced trackers from local communities, search dogs, and equipment for DNA analysis at the base camp. The testing makes it possible within several hours to determine whether found droppings belong to a saola or another local species, the Chinese serow.
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Work in Bolikhamsai Province
Researchers are surveying about 300 square kilometers of forest in Bolikhamsai Province on the border with Vietnam. This area was chosen because of its relatively low level of hunting and the large number of serows and muntjacs. Hunting, particularly wire and metal snares that kill animals indiscriminately, is considered the greatest threat to the saola.
Re:wild Senior Director for Conservation Strategies Barney Long said that the species' chances of survival are slim: searches in Vietnam conducted by WWF-Vietnam with partners in 2022–2024 yielded no results. At the same time, Scotson stressed that the prolonged absence of records is not sufficient scientific grounds to consider the saola extinct, as animals are very difficult to detect at extremely low densities.
At the same time, the expedition is documenting the fauna of a remote part of the Annamite Mountains, one of the important centers of biodiversity. Species found nowhere else also live there, including the giant muntjac, Annamite striped rabbit and Laotian rock rat.
