artificialfauna's Favorites

3612/3 Photo taken by me during a school trip to Mana Pools. The buff charged us while we were taking a morning break - my bag can be seen on its left. It later moved off and the 3 boys came to safety. It had been wounded by a poacher and a few days later it was shot by a ranger.

The Saola was only discovered to science in 1992. There are no Saola in captivity. No Saola have been seen by scientists in the wild. A few records on camera trap exist. In 2004, there were still reports of Saola deep in the Truong Son mountains. This individual was confiscated from hunters in A'Luoi district, in the western reaches of the province. The other pictures are from interviews with Ka Tu ethnic hunters in A'Luoi and A'Vuong districts (Minh Hoang). The last photo is James with rangers from Hue Forest Department examining Saola tracks in A'Luoi - and identifzing schistamoglottis plants, reportedly favoured food for the saola.

In 2013, its status is critical. See what is happening on http://www.savethesaola.org/

A truly amazing encounter with one of the world's most enigmatic ungulates. When I first saw this Pygmy Hippo, it was resting on the ground a few meters off the trail, covered with sweat droplets. After about an hour of waiting, it got up and slowly walked through the forest. It did not appear to mind my presence.