Search for the ‘Asian unicorn’ faces an uncertain future amid funding losses

The search for the enigmatic creature often called the Asian unicorn is stumbling forward on a month-to-month basis, according to the Saola Foundation, which organizes the search. The group says it’s now frantically raising funds to keep the search for the saola in Laos going. “The team comes out of the forest each July for the wet season. This year a sharp contraction in our funding meant we could not confirm they would go back in October,” said Lorraine Scotson, CEO of the Saola Foundation for the Conservation of the Annamite Mountains. Funding for October has only just come through, largely thanks to donations from a number of zoos, but fundraising continues for future months. The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) may well be the world’s most endangered large animal. The only member of its genus, the species is a tropical bovid that superficially resembles an antelope with its long, curved horns, thin face, and elegant facial markings. It’s believed to have remained this way largely unchanged for 15 million years. Found in the biodiverse Annamite Mountains, which straddle the border region of Laos, Vietnam, and a small portion of Cambodia, the saola was only discovered by scientists in 1992. Captive saola in Laos, 1996. Image by W. Robichaud/WCS. “Fewer than 50 are thought to remain, none are held in captivity, and the last confirmed record anywhere was a camera-trap photograph in 2013. Very few people have ever seen one alive,” Scotson said. Given this, the Saola Foundation launched a search in…This article was originally published on Mongabay