June 25, 2010

New Species Captured – 1994

It is very rare that a new mammal of a medium to large size is discovered. The Okapi was discovered by Europeans for the first time in 1910, but since then there had been no additional discoveries of large-scale mammals until skulls with unusual horns turned up in Vietnam in 1992.

The previously unknown creature was named the Vu Quang ox or saola. The Hmong people call it saht-supahp, the polite animal. It is a sort of antelope.

The search for live specimens of saola took two years. On this date in 1994, the London Times announced that a live specimen had finally been captured. It can be assumed that the creature is very endangered; we only know of 11 individuals alive today.



I am busy making every day special by taking a trip through California, Oregon, and Washington.

The daily posts will be minimal during my trip. Happy summer to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere!

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