bearing in mind I don't speak any Vietnamese languages so I only know what I've read, it means "horns like spinning wheel posts" (the posts in question are the two uprights supporting the apparatus, as seen in this photo of a Thai version: Woman spinning silk by hand on spinning wheel. - Lonely Planet Images). I've never really been able to work out if one of the words means "horn" or if sao la just means "spinning wheel post" and the connection to the horns is implied. (Different websites and articles give different versions, and indeed the original translation given was "spindle horn" which is a bit wrong). My favourite name for the animal is the Lao one saht-supahp which apparently means "the polite animal"
Saola In the video it hints at in-situ and ex-situ conservation, so maybe there will be further attempts at captive breeding if they can catch any. It may not be that difficult to keep in captivity if its needs were properly met and capture was made as stress-free as possible. The few(?)animals which have been caught and promptly died may not have been captured or kept under suitable conditions . Does anyone else find the phrase'going extinct' irksome?- I always thought animals became extinct (they certainly did until about 1980 anyway..)
The latter underlines more the pushing up daisies bit I guess. But yes, you are right. As to in situ or ex situ breeding, the best thing for the saola would be for locals to stop any hunting. What happens when they are accidentally caught ... they get to be in a right state before even one of the science buffs is on site. We need to be actually there ALL the TIME to conserve them and then conservation breeding ex situ would make sense. Allthough, the usual space for saola keeping they refer to as enclosures in Vietnam really is undeserving of even the least form of animal welfare. Hopefully, a captive-breeding center on site with good facilities along the lines of Cuc Phuong and some others may be established for this iconic forest species and others in Vu Quang and arounds.
Some exciting news from Vietnam: Rediscovery of Saola: ?Asian Unicorn? Sighted in Vietnam after 15 years | Press Releases | WWF
Here's an additional story on the new photo of the saola in Vietnam: Asia's 'unicorn' photographed in Vietnam
Serious plans to start a breeding-programm : Saola Update, July 2014: Next major step, lives well lived, and books about unicorns.
Forrest Gallante from Animal Planet’s Extinct or Alive in an upcoming episode will be in Vietnam to search for this Saola to see if they’re still around and possibly the first Western Scientist to see one.
He is a couple decades too late for that. William Robichaud of the Saola Working Group has seen at least one. I saw him give a talk about it.
Two podcasts with conservationists working with this species that may be of further interest : Episode 51: The Asian Unicorn, the Saola - All Creatures Podcast Also , highly reccomend William Debuys book "The Last Unicorn: A search for one of the worlds rarest creatures". It is very well written and contains a lot of the background of the "discovery" of the species and its conservation status. https://www.amazon.com/Last-Unicorn...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1573688138&sr=8-3
Nature reserve for the Saola in Vietnam : https://phys.org/news/2020-09-home-...cx4Z3pLbjDbJImIpCVLV_OvojP8cg0KjTAtIRloCAqgKM
Just for those who were interested, he hiked to this isolated piece of land and found a hoof print of some kind. Not really evidence of any sort but I guess it gets him views...
Hmmmm sorry if this sounds cynical to anyone but I agree that it sounds far more like wishful thinking and the need to generate tv views than any credible evidence. That said I certainly hope that the saola is still out there even if I do often wonder whether it is too late to actually save this species.
