Saola - Ecology & Habitat

Still at risk in high altitudes

The saola favours evergreen forests with little or no dry season. These forests are found on the Lao-Vietnam border and are subject to long rainy spells, up to ten months per year. The majority of records of this species suggest that it lives in altitudes from 400 to 1,000 m. The saola is rarely found below 100 m as forest is more scarce below that altitude.

Social Structure
Saola are though to be generally solitary, apart from mothers that are accompanied by their young.

Breeding
The species appears to have a fixed breeding season: in Lao, births take place at the beginning of the rains, between April and June. Gestation has been estimated at about eight months, and it is therefore deduced that mating happens between August and November. A single foetus pregnancy is probably the norm.

Diet
A researcher's report from captive individuals and field data suggests that the species may prefer the leaves of broad-leaf plants that are rich in white sap, e.g. thien nien kien (Homalomena oramatica), mon thuc (Aglanomena pierrei) and plants with a 'sour' taste such as me chua dat (Oxalis corniculata). The saola may also eat chuoi rung (Musa uranoscopos).