Beginning of the project: 2016
Donation sum collected in 2023: 148 762 CZK
Overall fundraising revenue: 1 304 845 CZK
Method of financing: the 4NATURE fundraiser
The Saola was discovered only in 1992 in a Vietnamese jungle. After more than fifty years, it was a new species discovered, easily becoming a sensation. Being critically endangered and difficult to behold, although it is one of the large bovines, Saola is native to a small area in the Annamite Range along the northwest-southeast Vietnam - Lao border. Because of its elusive way of life and the lack of investments into its protection of this relict species we are not sure how many saolas truly remain, the estimated population varies from tens to hundreds, the current estimated favoring the lower range of the figure. The main threats to the saola is hunting and fragmentation of its range through habitat loss.
In 2015, Zlín Zoo collaborated with the Saola Working Group (SWG) on the protection of Xe Sap National Protected Area (NPA) in southern Laos, one of the districts where saolas were observed in larger numbers. Since Fall 2020, we have established collaboration with another organization – Saola Foundation.
Thanks to our 4NATURE fundraiser we were able to support the Saola Foundation by providing the sum of 5 000 EUR, becoming one of the founding supporters. The Saola Foundation is focused on searching for saola in the wild, maily in Laos. The resources from the fundraiser are also spent on the forestry ameliration, protection of other native species and education of local residents.
In the Xe Sap NPA, our zoo also finances the anti-poaching patrols, purchase of video acquisition systems and the construction of the rescue and breeding center for saola and other endangered ungulates in the Vietnamese Bach Ma National Park.
The footage from the camera traps below was provided by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research.
