Distinguishing features
The coat is a dark brown with a black stripe along the back. Its legs are darkish and there are white patches on the feet, and white stripes vertically across the cheeks, on the eyebrows and splotches on the nose and chin. All saolas have slightly backward-curved horns, which grow to half a meter in length. The skin is 1–2 mm thick over most of the body, but the skin thickens once you get the nape of the neck, and the upper shoulders and it goes to 5mm in thickness, this a very unique adaptation that they have for protection of predators and the rivals horn during a fight. (Wikipedia)
Size
- Up to 90 cm (Shoulder height)
Weight
- Up to 95 kg
Synonyms
Interesting facts
- Saola mark their territories by opening up a fleshy flap on their snout to reveal scent glands. They subsequently rub the underside against objects leaving a musky, pungent paste. The colossal scent glands are thought to be the largest of any living mammal. (Wikipedia)
Distribution and habitat preferences
It inhabits the Annamite Range's moist forests and the Eastern Indochina dry and monsoon forests. They have been spotted in steep river valleys at about 300 to 1800 m above sea level. These regions are distant from human settlements, covered primarily in evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous woodlands. The species seems to prefer edge zones of the forests.
They stay in mountain forests during the wet seasons, when water in streams and rivers is abundant, and move down to the lowlands in winter. They are shy and never enter cultivated fields or come close to villages. To date, all known captive saola have died, leading to the belief that this species cannot live in captivity. (Wikipedia)
Diet
They are reported to eat small leafy plants—especially fig leaves, and stems along rivers. (Wikipedia)
