Following forest guards in Vietnam on a mission to save the saola
Posted on 03 October 2013
A week in the life of a forest patrol guard, fighting illegal hunting in the Saola Nature Reserves.
A week in the life of a forest patrol guard, fighting illegal hunting in the Saola Nature Reserves.
The biggest threat to the Critically Endangered Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), an endemic species to Laos and Vietnam, is hunting, as saolas get caught as by-catch in snares set by local people for other animals.Under this SOS-funded project, locally employed forest guards who have undertaken intensive training with WWF conduct regular patrols inside the Saola Nature Reserves in Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam provinces, where hunting is illegal. They focus on removing snares and dismantling camps used by poachers, also intercepting illegal hunters and loggers when possible.
Follow a patrol on its mission through the photographic report on the SOS - Save Our Species website.
Two decades after the sensational discovery of a new ungulate species called the saola, this rare animal remains as mysterious and elusive as ever.
© David Harvey / WWF
Two decades after the sensational discovery of a new ungulate species called the saola, this rare animal remains as mysterious and elusive as ever.
© David Harvey / WWF