Even then, it was already endangered. Today, even the most optimistic estimates say fewer than 100 saola individuals (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) remain, but it could also be extinct by now.

It’s not looking good for the saola. If it still exists, it is one of the world’s rarest large mammals — a deerlike creature from the mountainous rainforests of Vietnam and Laos that’s ...

Scientists discover about 18,000 new species every year, yet some still evade researchers’ watchful eyes. While the saola is by no means “new,” the species avoids human contact so well that ...

The guards are patrolling nature reserves and protected areas along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, destroying thousands of snares and shutting down scores of illegal hunting camps in an all-out bid ...

The saola is evolutionarily unique—it sits on a 12–15 million-year-old branch of the tree of life and is the only surviving descendant on that branch.