Close-up of rare animals in Vietnam's Sao La Nature Reserve
Since 2023, camera traps in the Sao La Nature Reserve in Huế city (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province), central Vietnam, have recorded 39 animal species, many of them rare and critically endangered.
The Sao La Nature Reserve lies in the southwest of Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) and covers 15,303.39 hectares, including some of the last remaining natural primary forest of the Central Annamites (Trung Trường Sơn) region.
With forest cover of more than 90%, the reserve is considered one of the most biodiverse places in the region and is home to the saola, one of the rarest large mammals in the world and a critically endangered species.
Sao La Nature Reserve staff record gibbon calls to determine the number of groups and of males and females, information used to plan monitoring and conservation.
The Sao La Nature Reserve is a "shared home" for many rare animals and plants. Researchers have recorded 42 mammal species, 84 amphibian and reptile species, 139 bird species and 54 fish species, many of them listed in Vietnam's Red Data Book and on the IUCN Red List, as well as 1,114 plant species.
Since 2023, the reserve has carried out four camera-trapping campaigns at 153 locations, using a total of 446 camera traps. These recorded 39 animal species, including two critically endangered, one endangered and four vulnerable species on the 2024 IUCN Red List.
Rare species recorded include the Annamite muntjac, mainland serow, crested argus, Sunda pangolin, Asian small-clawed otter, northern pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque and red-shanked douc...
Some images of rare animals at the Sao La Nature Reserve:
A pangolin.
A stump-tailed macaque.
A yellow-throated marten.
An Annamite striped rabbit.
A masked palm civet.
A partridge known in Vietnamese as gà so ngực gụ.
A common palm civet.
A northern pig-tailed macaque.
A red muntjac.
A mainland serow.
A sambar deer.
A Malayan porcupine.
Nguyễn Thanh, director of the Sao La Nature Reserve, said the reserve will continue to use information technology in patrols, biodiversity monitoring and tracking of forest change so that illegal logging can be detected and stopped promptly. In particular, it uses the Wildlife Insights platform to manage and analyze camera-trap data for biodiversity monitoring.
"We will carry out camera trapping to record the presence of saola and other wildlife. We will also record gibbon calls to determine the number of groups and of males and females, so that we can plan effective monitoring and conservation in the coming period," Thanh said.
The reserve's management said livelihood-support programs and projects for residents of neighboring communes will help create jobs and stable incomes, thereby reducing pressure on the forest.
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