Saola
Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Dung, Giao, Chinh, Tuoc, Arctander & MacKinnon, 1993
CRCritically Endangeredmammals
The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae and tribe Bovini, within the order Artiodactyla. It is a large, terrestrial herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 97.84 kg and a cathemeral activity pattern.
Quick facts about the saola
The saola reaches sexual maturity at 755.1 days (2.1 years) and is listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 97.8 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Age at maturity
- 2.07 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the saola
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the saola live?
Not recorded
What is the saola?
The saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), also called the spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vũ Quang bovid, is a forest-dwelling bovid native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was first described in 1993 following a discovery of remains in Vũ Quang National Park by a joint survey of the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and the World Wide Fund for Nature, Saolas have since been kept in captivity multiple times, although only for short periods as they died within a matter of weeks to months.
Saola live in restricted areas of high-altitude wet evergreen forest and have probably always had a relatively low population density. The first photograph of a living saola was taken in captivity in 1993. The most recent one was taken in 2013 by a movement-triggered camera in the forest of central Vietnam, which represents the most recent record of the saola. The saola is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, being heavily threatened by snares intended to trap other animals within their forest habitat and to a lesser extent by habitat destruction, with an estimated population of 50–300 individuals as of 2015. There is concern that the species may already be extinct, and even if individuals are still alive, extinction has been described as "inevitable" within 10 years from 2025 without intervention.
The saola is the only species in the genus Pseudoryx and the earliest diverging member of the tribe Bovini, placing buffalo and cattle as its closest relatives.
From the Wikipedia article “Saola” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saola&oldid=1383453367), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the saola endangered?
The saola is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species.
How is the saola classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderArtiodactyla
- familyBovidae
- genusPseudoryx
- SpeciesPseudoryx nghetinhensis Dung, Giao, Chinh, Tuoc, Arctander & MacKinnon, 1993
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- Asian unicornEnglish
- NilgaiEnglish
- SiolaEnglish
- SiolaEnglish
- SpindlehornEnglish
- Vietnamese antelopeEnglish
- Vu Quang bovidEnglish
- Vu Quang oxEnglish
- Vu Quang oxEnglish
- ساولاArabic
- ظبي فيتناميArabic
- مغزلي القرنArabic
- أحادي القرن الآسيويArabic
- بقر فو كونغArabic
- ثور فو كونغArabic
- saolàCatalan
- Vu-Quang-RindGerman
- Vietnamesisches WaldrindGerman
- Vu-Quang-AntilopeGerman
- Buey de Vu QuangSpanish
- Saola o buey de Vu QuangSpanish
- vietnámi antilopHungarian
- サオラJapanese
- ブークアンオックスJapanese
- ベトナムレイヨウJapanese
- 사올라Korean
- VuquangokseNorwegian Bokmål
- Vietnamese AntilopeDutch
- Saola wietnamskaPolish
- ПсевдориксRussian
- ซาวลาThai
- СаолаUkrainian
- 劍角牛Chinese
- 中南大羚Chinese
- 亞洲獨角獸Chinese
- 亞洲麒麟Chinese
- 安南錠角羚Chinese
- 武廣牛Chinese
- 索拉羚Chinese
Relatives of the saola
Other species in the same family Bovidae.
Water buffalo
Bubalus bubalis
African buffalo
Syncerus caffer
Impala
Aepyceros melampus
Muskox
Ovibos moschatus
Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
Aurochs
Bos primigenius
CompareSaola vs Water buffaloSaola vs African buffaloSaola vs ImpalaSaola vs Muskox
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the saola?
The saola is a mammal in the family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae and tribe Bovini, within the order Artiodactyla.
How heavy is the saola?
The saola has a representative adult body mass of 97.84 kg, which places it in the large size class (25 to 250 kg).
What does the saola eat?
The saola is a herbivore.
Is the saola endangered?
Yes. The saola is listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered (CR), an IUCN threatened category.
When does the saola reach sexual maturity?
The saola reaches sexual maturity at 755.1 days, or 2.1 years.
Who named the saola?
The saola was named Pseudoryx nghetinhensis by Dung, Giao, Chinh, Tuoc, Arctander & MacKinnon, 1993.
What other names does the saola have?
The saola is also called Siola, Nilgai, Vu Quang ox, Spindlehorn and Asian unicorn.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/saola
“Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/saola.
@misc{saola_2026,
title = {Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/saola},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}